Isro working on smaller satellite launch vehicles with up to 700 kg payload

The ISRO is working on building smaller launch vehicles that will carry satellites weighing 500 to 700 kg to up to 500 kilometres from the earth's surface, its chief, K Sivan, said Thursday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Bengaluru Space Expo 2018, a biennial event organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Sivan said the agency was planning to open incubation centres at six places in the country to encourage innovation and start-ups.

He said the academia and the industry are two strong pillars of the ISRO and urged the industry to come forward and share the agency's "load".

"The demand for small satellites is growing. Small satellites are going to be used for communication purposes in an enormous way. To catch up with the small satellites market, ISRO is in the process of developing a small satellite launcher," he said.

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These satellites, Sivan added, would be of very repetitive nature and easier to produce.

The small launch vehicle will be different from the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), ISRO's trusted workhorse, and should take only 72 hours for integration, he said.

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