Click here to EnlargeThe big question till last month was: could our space scientists do it? After all, two of the four similar satellites made by the US turned out to be duds. And the only comparable satellite India had built, that too in 1981, was APPLE - a featherweight in front of the sophisticated multi-purpose INSAT crafts.After more than five years of toil in Indian space research laboratories and. two months of heart-stopping manouevres, as the satellite was injected into space and nudged into its orbital path, the answer? Yes, We Can. There was more to it than just pride in that shout of triumph. For the country was in desperate need of the vital services INSAT 2A could provide. INSAT ID, the last surviving of the four bought-out satellites from the US, was running to full capacity. And the country was spending Rs 2 crore of scarce foreign exchange every year to lease capacity from ARABSAT to beam regional television programmes. If our 'bird' couldn't make it into space this year, several countries were being sounded out to lease capacity on their satellites more permanently.Among the first things the space department did after INSAT 2A was declared fully operational, was to tell the Information & Broadcasting Ministry to get its services off the snag-ridden ARABSAT. Immediately antennae beaming regional television services in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were turned to point to 2A floating effortlessly, 36,000 km up in space over the Indian Ocean, south of Trivandrum. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}One by one, the other services were connected: the satellite began transmitting razor sharp cloud cover images to various meteorological offices for weather predictions. Over 10,000 two-way telephone circuits - enough to handle daily trunk traffic between several major metropolises - became operational.An artist's impression of INSAT 2A travelling in spaceAnd there was promise of more. Its special high-power transponders would soon be available for roof-top telecom networks that have the potential to revolutionise business dealings in the country. With such small terminals, everything from airline ticketing to bank transfers and company communications, would take just seconds to come through. And the magic of teleconferencing may become a reality.It was with ample justification chat U.R. Rao, the cherubic chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) could say:''Everything has gone like clockwork." Indeed, it has. For, building the blue and gold, mouse-eared satellite required precise planning, mastery over several state-of-the-art technologies and stringent quality checks. Standing five-storey tall and weighing as much as two Fiat cars, the satellite has on-board a host of sophisticated gadgetry that is being built in the country for the first time (see chart).To the scientists' credit, 2A is not a clone of its glitch-prone American sisters. "It does a helluva lot more," says P. Ramachandran, project director, INSAT 2. The satellite is equipped with transponders that give it 50 per cent more capacity than the INSAT 1 series. Its radiometers send much higher-resolution cloud cover pictures that will enhance weather prediction. And it has a set of specialised transponders for providing better reception and improved business communication.More importantly, what 2A really means is, valuable savings in foreign exchange. Buying a similar satellite from the US now would cost over Rs 100 crore. But ISRO was able to build it for Rs 70 crore - a savin? of Rs 30 crore in rupee terms itself. However, while most parts of the craft had the 'Made in India' stamp on it, several key components had to be imported. India is still dependent on countries such as Japan, Germany and France for things like craft controls, propellant tanks and microwave transistors. Several key microprocessors for its payload systems are imported from US firms. Despite the hi-tech revolution that 2A ushers in, India is still woefully short of satellites to meet the demand for services. Says Rao: "We have projected a demand for 50 transponders in the next two years." The two INSATs now in orbit provide for only 30 transponders - little more than half the actual demand, ISRO scientists are now busy completing the integration and testing of 2B whose launch is scheduled for May 1993. But even then it would not mend the shortage because INSAT ID will 'die' two years after that. (INSAT series satellites usually have an orbit life of seven years). There are other problems. The US embargo on selling space technology to India after its recent tie-up for specialized Rocketry with Russia could push schedules back furtherWhat the country needs is three more such satellites going into orbit in quick succession. That would require the space department to farm out much of the production to private industry - instead of making most of the critical parts as it does now. And it would become viable if ISRO started hawking its satellite-building capability to other Third World countries. For Indian space, only that would signify a giant leap.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Dec 31, 2012--- ENDS ---
