By Venkatachari Jagannathan Chennai, Nov 30, : , Former and current officials of the Indian space sector are of the opinion that the sector’s organizational structure will mirror that of India’s atomic energy sector.
They also suggested that senior officials from the Indian space agency should address employees about what is happening in this sector and how it will turn out, so that confusion and uncertainty are addressed.
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Indian Atomic Energy Sector (AERB), and the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (both power corporations), the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), are the top regulators.The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (both power companies), Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and IREL (India), Ltd are all public sector units (PSU).
The Bhabha Atomic Energy Centre, Indira Gandhi Centre For Atomic Research (IGCAR), are the most prestigious research and development (R&D), and there are many DAE-aided organizations.
The DAE is led by a Secretary, usually from the R&D units, but the Atomic Energy Commission is also responsible for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
However, the heads of the R&D centers and PSUs are led by different people.
IANS was told by several officials that the government responsible for space sector reforms appears to be trying to replicate the atomic energy model.
An official said to IANS that the Central government’s actions in the space sector seemed to mirror the atomic energy model.
Currently, the Department of Space is at the top.Below that, there’s the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre for Space (IN-SPACe), a private sector space regulator, and the Indian Space Research Organisation, (ISRO), with various R&D-cum production (rockets and satellites, and other units).
Two PSUs are available in the sector: Antrix Corporation Ltd.and NewSpace India Ltd.
The Chairman of ISRO is the Secretary of DOS and Chairman Space Commission, which is different from the atomic energy sector.
IN-SPACe was established by the government as a regulator to regulate the private sector players as part of its space sector reform measures.
“Ultimately, there will only be one sectoral regulator.There can’t be two regulators, one for the private and one for public sectors.”A public-private partnership is a way to flot a company,” an official asked.
An official stated that “It’s good that there is a separate sectoral regulatory body outside of the DOS or the ISRO.”
The newly-formed PSU NewSpace India was mandated to construct, own, and launch satellites and rockets.It also provides space-based services and transfers ISRO-developed technology to others.
ISRO Secretary DOS K.Sivan, Chairman of ISRO, has stated that ISRO will be focusing on high-end research.
The Secretary, Chairman, ISRO and DOS positions may not all be held by the same person.
“Looking ahead, there are potentialities for the government coming up with a voluntary retirement plan for ISRO officials and merging their various production centers with NewSpace to combine its operations,” a former senior official at ISRO told IANS.
“But there is a problem with this proposition.
The production centres of ISRO are also its R&D center.Both R&D and production are interconnected.
It is important to see how they will be housed under ISRO or NewSpace India.
The ISRO officials are pondering their future, which is closely linked to their organisation’s.
G.R.Pramod, General Secretary of ISRO Staff Association, told IANS that there is uncertainty about the future for approximately 17,300 ISRO employees.
“The ISRO top management, which includes the Chairman and Heads of different centres, should come out openly to address employee concerns at the earliest,” a senior official said.
Officials claim that the uncertainty in the minds ISRO officials is caused by the government’s communication to stop all recruitment while sectoral reforms are underway.This allows the private sector to launch satellites and rockets.
IANS was also informed by ISRO officials that promotions for many categories had been held back for the past two year.Recently, the promotion exercise for some was completed.
“Further, the number of rocket launches from India this year dropped dramatically to just two, from six or seven per annum on average.” An official stated that one mission was critical for the country and that two had failed.
The consensus is that reforms to the space sector are needed by the government to ensure that resources are being used economically.
Satellite utilisation has been a problem for a long time.
The demand may dictate when the satellites are launched.Officials stated that the days of launching satellites to utilise rockets and then searching for customers are over.”
Curiously, officials stated that ISRO had not contacted its commercial arm Antrix in years past to determine what the market needs to build and launch satellites.
(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
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