Odisha x ISRO: Paving the Way for Future of Space Tech

Odisha x ISRO: Paving the Way for Future of Space Tech

The recent success of the Chandrayaan-3 has catapulted the public interest in scientific developments of our nation. This rare historic moment filled our hearts with a feeling of pride as well as curiosity to know more about space exploration undertaken in our country. It is something that is bound to inspire the new generation of school-going children to aspire for a career in science in general and space tech in particular.

Space technology is the application of different fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for achieving goals such as space exploration and earth observation. It involves designing and building of space-crafts for space travel, launching of satellites, development of launch vehicles, deep-space communication and in-space propulsion to move a spacecraft through space.

A Brief History of Space Tech

The first few developments in space tech came during the cold war era. Technological feats such as the first artificial satellite, the first man to journey into outer space and first man to step on moon were achieved as a result of the space race, or race for supremacy over space.

During the same time Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was taking its baby steps towards venturing beyond the sky under the visionary leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. India launched its first satellite named the Aryabhatta spacecraft, designed by ISRO with the help of the Soviet Union. Subsequently ISRO achieved capabilities like having its own indigenous satellite launch vehicles, its own remote sensing satellites, its own communication satellites, its own navigational satellites, and finally venturing into deep space with lunar probes and the Mars Orbiter mission. 

The last two decades have seen two remarkable features of space tech – first being increased international collaborations in the sector and second being the rise of private companies in the space tech industry. Realising the potential of the sector, the Indian government started the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (INSPACe) in 2020. This will play the role of empowering private players in the space tech industry in the country.

Space Tech Startups in India

Different types of industries, which come under the secondary sector of the economy, can be categorised into two types – the strategic industries and the non-strategic industries. The strategic industries give a nation strategic advantage over others. It represents the technological and scientific might of the national economy. The Space Tech industry is classified as a strategic industry.

The last five years have seen the incubation and growth of many new ambitious startups in the field of space tech in India. Being guided by ISRO, many of them have made plans for generating revenue by launching satellites through the use of reusable rockets. With a current valuation of $8 billion and a 2 % share in the global space economy India’s space economy has the potential to reach anything between $40-$100 billion by 2040 as per a report by a management consultancy firm Arthur D. Little. 

As of 2021, Indian space startups have received a funding of $200 million. However, with India proving its mettle with Chandrayaan-3, there is expected to be a surge in the interest of the international investors in the space startup scene of India. As many as 150 space startups have successfully incubated so far in India. Some of the startups that have been in news off late are Dhruva Space, Agnikul Cosmos, Aadyah Aerospace, Bellatrix Aerospace, Skyroot Aerospace and Pixxel. They have begun making a mark in the space tech sector right from the day of their inception.

The space tech landscape is broadly divided into two types – upstream and downstream. The upstream is the one that deals with manufacturing, development and launch of space vehicles, while downstream is the sector that offers applications and services to enable space technology. A peculiar commonality between all these new startups is that they are mostly based in the metropolitan area, where there is no paucity of skilled workforce and infrastructure. However, agencies and centres located even in tier-2 cities such as Bhubaneswar have played a pivotal role in some of ISRO’s missions and have ambitious plans to do so in the future.

Odisha in Space Tech

Just as a machine needs different constituent components to function efficiently, the space tech industry needs an ecosystem of both government and private institutions as cogs in the wheel. The Central Tool room and training centre (CTTC), Bhubaneswar has played a significant role in the past for ISRO and has plans to do more in the years to come.

CTTC’s Pivotal Contribution to ISRO

CTTC has been supplying import-substitution precision components to ISRO for the last 26 years. CTTC has built several instruments for Polar Satellites and Geo-satellites, Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan 2. CTTC has manufactured and supplied a staggering 54000 high-quality precision components to ISRO in the last two years for Chandrayaan-3.

My City Links met with the General Manager of CTTC Bhubaneswar, Mr. L. Rajasekhar and discussed CTTC's role in the upcoming Gaganyaan mission. Mr. Rajasekhar explained, “Basically Gaganyaan is a manned mission to space. There would be two modules in Gaganyaan spacecraft – crew module and service module. In the crew module there would be three astronauts. They will be going to space in Gaganyaan spacecraft and they will be staying there for three to four days, and finally return back to earth. On return they will land on sea using the parachutes stowed in the crew module. This technology is there with only three countries in the world – Russia, China and USA. Once we are successful, India would become the fourth country to do so.”

CTTC’s unique task for Gaganyaan

“Gaganyaan is more critical than the other missions”, states Mr. Rajasekhar. “If you talk about previous missions, be it PSLV, GSLV, Mangalyaan or the Chandrayaans the criticality was less. There if the mission fails the loss would have been only financial. But in Gaganyaan, human beings are involved. So far, in past projects, human life was not part of the space missions. That makes Gaganyaan critical.” On CTTC’s role in Gaganyaan, Mr. Rajasekhar adds, “Due to this criticality, CTTC has been given a unique task of manufacturing zero deviation components. Whatever components we are making here, such as the 23 types of valves that we have developed, the anti-thrusters, RGPD components, and ILG components all of these are manufactured with zero deviation.”

Explaining about zero deviation, he says, “Zero deviation means no error. Whatever specifications ISRO has provided, within that value we have to manufacture the components. Even if it is minutely more than that value, then it would be rejected.” On the progress of the Gaganyaan project, he says, “So far we have supplied 25000 components to the ISRO team for Gaganyaan. This was completed on September 20, 2023 as the first phase of supplying components. Now all these components are being assembled by my teammates in Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Bangalore of ISRO. It is a team of around 45 from CTTC Bhubaneswar who are doing the job. After assembly these would be tested as per the requirements of ISRO.”

ISRO and CTTC partnership: A Vital Collaboration

About ISRO and CTTC’s partnership, Mr. Rajasekhar says, “ISRO has done a lot of hand-holding to CTTC. Be it with technology or guidance, we have received great support from them. It is because of ISRO only that we have been recognized in the world. Developing technology is a continuous learning process. For example, now they want to reduce the weight of the space-craft. Then there is the challenge of metal to be glassed. Here, CTTC advised ISRO that why don’t we go for glass machining. So we added machinery equipment for glass machining, and now we are supplying glass components. This would reduce the weight of the spacecraft and also increase its longevity.”

On the different deadlines of the Gaganyaan project, the General Manager informs, “One deadline was on September 20, which we were able to meet. Another was on October 23rd. The mission would be there tentatively in March 2024. Already the astronauts have been identified and are being trained. They are all the Indian Air Force pilots.” Mr. Rajasekhar concluded by stating that CTTC achieved financial self-sufficiency in the year 2003 and has been generating revenue since 2007.

NIT Rourkela’s Contribution to Space Tech Ecosystem

With the goal of attracting and nurturing the young academia with innovative ideas or research aptitude for carrying out research and developing the space sector, ISRO has started six Space Technology Incubation Centres (STIC) in different regions of India. Odisha is on the map of space tech developments with the setting up of an STIC in NIT Rourkela for the eastern region of India on 18th March 2021. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between NIT Rourkela and ISRO on the mentioned date, after which activities in the field of space tech have begun. The state of the art laboratories and expert faculties of NIT Rourkela are actively participating in the functioning of the STIC.

My City Links caught up with Prof. Susmita Das, who is the coordinator of the STIC at NIT Rourkela. When asked about the progress of STIC in the last two years she replied, “This is slightly different than usual incubators. For different Space Technology Incubation Centres, ISRO released a booklet called YUKTI Sanchita. In the booklet there is the list of the required projects of ISRO with certain details along with the name of a mentor from ISRO. Accordingly, we were asked to distribute it in the eastern region including our institute. Faculties applied for project proposals along with the ISRO mentors. These projects are the requirements of ISRO that are either product-oriented projects or technology development. We had applied for 46 project proposals from this centre, out of which 9 projects were shortlisted and currently they are under progress.”

Adding further about the ongoing projects, Prof. Susmita Das said, “In these 9 projects the faculties are the Project Investigators (PI). Unlike other projects where there are JRFs and SRFs taken, in our projects the purpose is to develop our student mass. So from BTech, MTech and PhD levels students are selected for these projects. The PI decides and gives the information to the students and accordingly he selects them. Even though students are working, these are not student oriented projects. The projects are as per the requirements of ISRO.”

Mentorship and Collaboration for Success

Prof. Susmita Das was asked about the mentorship process of the students in the centre. She states, “Students are being mentored by project PIs and the ISRO PI. We are having meetings on regular intervals and are conducting reviews. There is a Joint Management Committee (JMC) between ISRO and NIT Rourkela that periodically reviews the proposals, its outcomes, whether its milestones are achieved or not for the proposals, what is to be done, etc. The ISRO mentors have to justify why and how the projects will benefit their organisation. So a dual purpose is solved here, that is, we are developing the technology which is directly transferred to ISRO.”

The STIC is in its starting phases and all its projects are in progress. Faculties from NIT Rourkela, who act as Project Investigators, monitor the progress of the projects in which selected students participate. In the recently concluded JMC the idea to provide opportunities for summer internships to students from outside NIT Rourkela was discussed. Added to that the JMC also encourages the Project Investigators to start their own startups in the field of space tech. Prof. Das added further, “Students who are enrolled in the projects will go away after completing their degrees. So their experience in these projects will help them to start a new company.”

When asked about how students are balancing studies with startup work, Prof. Das replied, “They are balancing. They have to do the extra work by giving the extra hours. That is always there. They have to do it. For example, students who go abroad for higher studies also undertake many such projects. This is a very dedicated work.” 

My City Links further asked Prof. Das about whether the opportunity to work at STIC is open to working professionals and institute alumni. She replied, “This centre is only for students”. On the question of the opportunities in the space tech sector in the coming years, Prof. Das said, “Opportunities will certainly increase. From different types of rocket launchers to space communication such as in ISTRAC for satellite tracking and monitoring, the space application centre in Ahmedabad which is developing different types of cameras – Our PIs and students can visit any of these ISRO centres. They can work in the labs. PIs are getting the data from ISRO centres. So collaborative work is going on which will boost opportunities in the future.” The short term goal of STIC is to complete the different projects within a time limit, and the long term goal is to develop faculty startups and student startups. 

Funding and Government Support

Regarding funding Prof. Das said, “All incubations in our institute such as the FTBI (Foundation for Technology and Business Incubation) and STIC are government funded. ISRO's CBPO (Capacity Building & Public Outreach), which is coordinating all the activities with academia, will take up the funding related activities. This is under the Department of Space only.”

Applications of Space Tech in daily life

 Next, we asked Prof. Das about the applications of space tech in daily life. She replied, “Well, recently we had Chandrayaan's success. Next is the Gaganyaan mission. So the next big thing is to have human habitats in space. Not only that, it is also about whether human beings can go to space and safely return back. Like Space tourism, or space habitat. For that we need not just science and technology but also all human values. Thus, Social sciences research is also taking place in it. Another application is in agriculture, where ISRO is developing an integrated information system for monitoring crops, which ISRO is also funding. In human habitats we have projects on-going such as development of poly-hydroxy urethanes, or containers for urines, for aerospace applications. Another project is on magneto-resistive heat switches. We have a project on Telemetry Telecommand and tracking processors. These are all indigenous projects undertaken for prototype testing. So a total of 9 projects are going on. We have many future missions coming up. And in all those technologies for human sustenance is a major research focus. Because rocket science is already established, robotics has also developed greatly, so next is the Gaganyaan mission.”

 We asked Prof. Susmita Das about her role in the centre. She said, “I am a coordinator here. I generally coordinate with any PI who is doing JMC, review meetings of each project, and financial transaction monitoring with ISRO. I am a professor in Electrical Engineering and this is an additional work as a coordinator. I am not exactly dedicated now for FTBI. This is STIC which is going to incubate but right now we are in the initial stage. We are developing the products and innovative technologies right now through our student mass. Not through any JRFs or SRFs.”

Nurturing the future of Space Tech in Eastern India

Prof. Das is optimistic about the different projects which are underway in STIC. “All 9 projects are going on and some will definitely reach completion within the next six months. In the next round some more projects would come, applications for different projects would be reviewed. I will be coordinating all these things.”, Prof. Das concluded.

 A space tech startup ecosystem would require many entities which would support each other and make progress. The ISRO STIC at NIT Rourkela is now sowing the seeds of the future of space tech for the eastern region of India.