Article Posted on : - Aug 27, 2010

BANGALORE (PTI): Small satellites can play a big role in the future given the low cost advantage, quicker turn-around-period and easy launch, a senior ISRO official has said.

Small satellites had the potential to transform space business as they are not complex in nature, more reliable and also ideal for production, Laboratory for Electro Optics System, ISRO, Director V Koteshwar Rao said at the ongoing Bengaluru Space Expo 2010, a four-day exhibition on space, satellites and technologies.

Rao said for small satellites to play a big role in the future it would have to be "faster, cheaper and better".

These satellites were well suited for specific applications and could hope to compete with bigger satellites, he said citing the example of Clementine, a small satellite.

Smaller satellites could also play an important role in planetary missions, in atmospheric science, space biology and study of weather and climate.

Its utility was evident in telemedicine, he said citing the example of Healthnet in Africa. Its potential could be also be utilised optimally during disaster management and rehabilitation as well.

In earth observation, small satellites could be used to increase the revisit capabilities and ensuring mapping of the same area with more details. A train of satellites with diversity of instruments had the potential of serving various objectives.

It could also play an effective role in military surveillance by ensuring secured communication and quick launches.

In India, ISRO has launched many small satellites mainly for experimental purposes like remote sensing, atmospheric studies, payload development, orbit controls and recovery technology.

Recently a student satellite Studsat was also launched.

Elaborating on the challenges, he said "there was a need to develop a robust commercial market" for small satellites, making them capable to compete with other satellites and raise customer satisfaction by tweaking it to meet the end needs of customer.

Dr Susmita Mohanty, CEO, Earth2Orbit, a private start up, highlighted the growing popularity of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to launch smaller satellites.

Quoting a report, she said the nano satellite market was expected to grow by 40 percent over the next five years and 416 nano satellites are expected to be placed in Lower Earth orbit by 2014.