December 30, 2024

The official media in China, although acknowledging that India has stolen a march over their country in commercial satellite launches after ISRO’s record breaking launch of 104 satellites from a single rocket, have tried to play down the feat. They have sought to create an impression that these satellites were small and unimportant. Hence, they said that ISRO had done nothing great. They also alluded to the fact that although China too has similar capability, India was able to get countries to use its facilities as it had marketed itself better in this regard.

While it is true that India has managed to convince many countries of the efficacy of using its launch platform at Sriharikota, this is not an impulse or non-technical purchase that other countries have been lured into. We are talking about satellites here. All countries willing to put them in orbit must necessarily weigh different options using multiple parameters. That they have chosen India, over China and other countries is basically for two reasons. Firstly, India offers world class facilities at nearly a tenth of what others charge. Secondly, Indian scientists have repeatedly demonstrated that they are on the top of their game in space technology. Barring the odd failure, ISRO has delivered at most times.

Apart from that, launching 104 satellites from a single rocket was a great feat for one compelling reason that has been acknowledged all over the world, except by the Chinese crybabies. The Indian scientists got the highly technical sequencing right. When launching multiple satellites from a single rocket, it is often seen that the timing goes awry and subsequent satellites can crash into the previous ones. This time, Indian scientists got the timing to such a precision that 104 were launched one after the other and none bumped into another. The feat was truly awe inspiring and immediately pushed India into the forefront of nations having awesome space technology.

While it is true that India still does not have the capacity (as distinct from capability) to launch very heavy satellites, it is only due to lack of infrastructure and not due to lack of skill. With this gigantic leap of faith, one is sure that requisite infrastructure will now be built without delay. After software, space technology is one area where India can compete and beat the best in the world with time, provided funds are made available by the government. The Chinese can think what they want to but the fact is that India is better equipped to handle satellite launch solutions.