In the West, insurance companies depend on EO satellite imageries a great deal for verifying big farmers’ claims.

Its name comes from antariksh, Sanskrit for space. Antrix Corporation Limited will be completing 25 years next year in marketing niche products and services from India’s satellites and launch vehicles.

The mini ratna under the Department of Space / Indian Space Resarch Organisation has kept a very low profile through the years. Propulsion expert Rakesh Sasibhushan took over as Chairman and Managing Director in June, the second official to hold charge after Antrix was separated from ISRO in 2011. In this interview, the first to be given by any Antrix chief, Prof. Sasibhushan shared his thoughts on what lies ahead for Indian satellite commerce in a highly dynamic global market. Edited excerpts:

What are the challenges faced by a government-owned space products company in a highly innovative and fast-changing global scene dominated by private players?

There are technological, commercial and marketing challenges. I would also add issues of being cost competitive, of providing customers with advanced data and service in remote sensing and broadband communication. We do have advantages of being one of the six major spacefarers with good infrastructure, launch capability, etc., that are well appreciated by the space community. We keep apprising ISRO of the changing trends and requirements in technology development in order to stay in the market.

What has been the turnover of Antrix for 2015-16? How does the revenue flow in from different products and services?

The turnover of Antrix for 2015-16 was Rs.1,920 crore. About 70-75 per cent of this comes from the satcom (satellite communications) business. Today, the Indian satcom market – that is, leasing transponders for DTH broadcasting, DSNG (digital satellite TV news gathering from remote places), VSAT and cellular backhauling – has grown and we have capitalised on that. Launch services revenue coming from commercial foreign satellites fluctuates and it could be around 15 per cent besides a small amount from offering telemetry and tracking support to other operators. The revenue from earth observation (EO) or remote sensing is less than five per cent of the total.

How is the market for PSLV?

The PSLV is seeing a surge in requirement. Today, all launch service providers in the world put together are unable to cater to launching the large numbers of satellites, mostly small spacecraft, that are coming in. We have to consolidate this market.

What are the prospects for GSLV which has completed flight trials?

There are enquiries for the GSLV, too. It has performed very well in the last three launches. The indigenous cryogenic engine has shown stability. This gives us a lot of confidence and we hope that people are willing to discuss (hiring) it. It must first attain the pedigree and record of the PSLV because reliability and accuracy of a launch vehicle are very important in the global launch services market.

How is the satellite side of business poised?

In the future, the company’s major revenues will come from the satcom segment which is yielding good revenues. Actually, the business given by satellite services – such as leasing of transponders – far outweighs the cost of building a satellite (for a customer) or (the fee from) a launcher. Some requirements would be met through the upcoming satellites GSAT-17, GSAT-11 and the recently launched GSAT-18.

All over the world, even in our villages, there are requirements for increased bandwidth. In the future, High-Throughput Satellites (HTS) will be a big breakthrough for improving Internet services. For ISRO’s HTSs, we will look at partnering Indian industry to provide services, somewhat as in the case of DTH. The first opportunity will come once the GSAT-11 is launched.

How has Antrix addressed the chronic capacity shortage for DTH operators?

We are bridging this gap by leasing capacity from foreign satellites. Perhaps the bandwidth requirement is being met at a slightly higher cost. Users have been requested to come on to the INSAT/ GSAT platform once the capacity is available.

A few years ago, Indian satellite imageries were a global hit. What are their drivers today?

Our EO constellation primarily serves societal and strategic needs. In the coming years, there is going to be a large growth in the country’s requirement of EO data and products. We are now looking at EO as a promising area for the future. Globally, the number of EO satellites, their operators, remote sensing technologies and their applications have grown manifold. Today people talk about getting near-real time EO data of a place.

In the West, insurance companies depend on EO satellite imageries a great deal for verifying big farmers’ claims. People are willing to pay the price for such technologies. All this will be seen in India and we want to be ready with a cost-effective delivery model.