For weeks, speculation has been swirling about India's plans to build a new launch site. Selecting a proper site somewhere close to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota might seem like the most logical solution, but other coastal sites along India's east coast anywhere from Andhra Pradesh to Orissa might prove to be suitable.
Dr K. Radhakrishnan, ISRO's Chairman and Secretary, has hinted that a concerted effort might get underway next year, and that India will aggressively pursue smaller foreign payloads in particular once this new launch site is completed.
Competiton for this space business segment will surely intensify as new players including SpaceX join in the chase for these same lucrative launches.
The Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur on Orissa's coast - along with Wheeler Island close by to the south - seems a long shot at this point as a potential site.
ISRO's list does not include an offshore option or at least none has been mentioned to date. The curious coincidence that sparked this column surrounds the restart of the Sea Launch venture which, after months of uncertainty and critical financial restructuring, conducted a successful launch late last month in the Pacific Ocean, the company's first launch since 2009.
Keep in mind that India's southwest coast and major southern ports are much closer to the Equator than Long Beach, California which serves as Sea Launch's home port.
Long Beach is where the Odyssey Launch Platform and its support vessels are based including the Sea Launch Commander which serves the venture's floating operations center. A Zenit-3SL launch vehicle carried a 4600 kg satellite aloft in this instance. A converted oil platform serves as the venture's launch platform at sea.
Sea Launch Company's Chapter 11 reorganization process was completed last October. Russia-based Energia Overseas Limited emerged as the majority owner of Sea Launch S.a.r.l. as the new company is known, while Energia Logistics Ltd., a U.S. corporation, will assume management of
rocket assembly and satellite integration operations. Boeing is retaining a much reduced 3 per cent stake in Sea Launch.
All of this was approved by the so-called Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
In 2010, no Indian company attempted to purchase this distressed venture and the purpose of this commentary is not to discuss the feasibility or soundness of such a move. Instead, this writer wonders if Sea Launch offers India an important lesson.
It is readily apparent that at least some of India's shipyards are seeking to be reprogrammed in a significant way and this might open the door to an Indian version of Sea Launch. Why not? On the southeast coast of India, are shipbuilding facilities filled to capacity with new hulls? This is not an automatic setup for rocket launching, and much needs to be done to covert otherwise idle shipyard capacity in search of a business application into a 21st Century home port for a space venture.
India should look hard at why such an a concept might be exciting. Rapid reloading of an offshore platform is one consideration for sure along with the attraction of enhanced safety. Yes, an engineering challenge looms and the sea itself must be closely studied. However, ISRO should not turn a blind eye entirely the offshore option. Of course, a chat with the eager Russians on the Sea Launch team is in order.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
More U.S. companies seek to export space goods to India
India beckons and more U.S. companies are responding.
According to a spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State, the State
Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) received a
total of 165 applications for so-called "USML Category XV" exports to
India from 55 applicants for the period from January to September 2011
whereas last year during the same period, DDTC received 99 applications
from 41 applicants.
"USML Category XV" refers to a broad category of items on the U.S.
Munitions List listed as "Spacecraft Systems and Associated Equipment."
Both the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and more specifically, the
International Traffic In Arms Regulations apply here.
The Missile Technology Control Regime Annex involving multiple items
for export that are controlled by both the Department of Commerce via
its Commodity Control List (CCL) and by the Department of State via its
USML is relevant to this discussion too.
Monitoring requirements are applied to licenses by the State Dept.
based on the recommendations received in the course of interagency
review and yet, once DDTC has finalized the license and imposes
monitoring requirements, it is up to the U.S. Defense Technology
Security Administration which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense
to implement and administer any monitoring if the export actually takes
place.
According to this same spokesperson, since the signing of the
Technology Safeguards Agreement between the Government of India and the
U.S. Government, DDTC has approved several licenses for the export of
USML hardware for incorporation into several civil spacecraft
manufactured outside of India which identified India as a potential
launch location.
Bharath Gopalaswamy, a senior research scholar at Cornell University’s
Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, is directing a
project on space security. When asked if the timing might be far from
ideal in terms of large scale exporting of space technology items from
eager companies in the U.S. to any potential partners in India, he
offered this quick assessment.
"The timing is not far from ideal. In fact, there is no ideal timing.
Large scale exporting is on three levels: political, technical and
bureaucratic. While politically Obama sent a signal earlier this year -
Indian entities were removed from the sanctions list - bureaucratically
this has to be implemented. This is a process and it is natural that it
takes its time," said Gopalaswamy.
In a paper he penned for the Center for Strategic and International
Studies entitled, "Indo-U.S. Space Cooperation: Aiming Higher" (August
2011), he stated that, "Indo - U.S. space cooperation is getting
traction, with prompting and support from the political leadership of
both countries."
However, while the political leadership cannot write the entire script
let alone fine tune any contractual details, it can help to ensure
that the bureaucracies in both countries are receptive to and
supportive of the objectives at hand.
"The bureaucracies are not fully familiar with each other. For example,
both countries want to actively collaborate in space. External
collaboration has always been a strong flavor of the Indian space
program - the Indian space program has been shaped by realism and
pragmatism," said Gopalaswamy. "It is just that identifying areas to
engage and structuring that cooperation with the U.S. has been
challenging because of the nature in which these bureaucracies
function."
Budgetary cutbacks in the U.S. space program and massive layoffs which
are putting NASA on edge are certainly prompting U.S. companies to
engage the Indian space sector.
"Shrinking resources and cutbacks in the US space program is causing
American companies to seek ventures abroad; India is a very attractive
customer!" said Gopalaswamy.
Both sides ought to contemplate how far they can go down the
reciprocally beneficial path wherein New Delhi is authorized to engage
in commercial space launches of U.S. satellites or satellites with
U.S.- origin components, paired in exchange for liberalization of
India's space industrial base so that private American firms could bid
for contracts within India's civilian space market, and in conjunction
with private Indian players supply space-linked commercial services to
the Indian market, according to Sourabh Gupta, senior research
associate at Samuels International in Washington, DC.
"Regarding India, with its civilian space entities finally off the
entity list, maybe it is time for forward movement towards a commercial
space launch agreement. But I have heard no footsteps in this direction
particularly during their recent Strategic Dialogue," said Gupta who
recommends moving the relationship beyond a strictly
government-to-government one, and lowering protectionist barriers that
restrict American participation in the civilian space market.
"This won't be realized immediately, but this ought to be the logical
next step in discussions, now that the "entity list" irritants have
been solved," said Gupta who also drew attention to, "the stand-offish
ways of the U.S. on civilian space - many of which are for good
reasons - which are also gradually debilitating to its interests."
"By playing a comparatively limited role in the evolving realm of
technological cooperation among space-faring aspirants, it is losing
some of its ability to shape best practices and deepen relationships,"
said Gupta. "Understandably there are reasons why the U.S. does not
want to assist in development of indigenous launch
capabilities, etc., but there surely could be other civilian space
sub-sectors where dual technology cooperation and advisory input on
technological development by the U.S. is feasible."
Cooperation may finally be picking up speed now, but it is not a
fast-paced phenomenon.
"Space has remained an important agenda in U.S. - India relations for
more than a decade now. Space cooperation has been identified in
almost all conceivable bilateral documents between the two countries,
although in reality, space has remained in the realm of potentials,"
said Dr. Rajeswari Rajagopalan, senior fellow in security studies at
the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "Now that the nuclear
deal is over between India and the U.S., the need for a big idea to
drive the relations is urgent and is of import. In the absence of a big
idea, there is a fear that the countries could drift apart even when
there is intent at the highest level of the political leadership in
both countries."
How can both countries elevate three strategic objectives through a
mutually beneficial space cooperation initiative?
"First, it provides an exciting investment area of space in the Indo -
U.S. strategic partnership for Indian and American leaders to work on,
which addresses STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics), jobs and high-tech cooperation in space," said Dr.
Rajagopalan. "Second, it can catapult space industrialization and
commercial space from the edge of the Indian and American national
space paradigm to its forefront. Third, it can garner further resources
for our own STEM in developing a future strategic industry."
She recommended that, "a Space Commercial Initiative / Space Knowledge
Initiative modeled around the US -India Agricultural Knowledge
Initiative or the Clean Energy Initiative. This would go a long way in
sustaining everyone's interest and ensuring the longevity of space
cooperation."
Besides, she added, "India has been attached a great deal of importance
to Obama’s vision for the future as far as the space domain is
concerned. With the removal of most U.S. high technology sanctions on
Indian agencies, particularly on ISRO, few hurdles remain in the path
of greater cooperation in this arena."
In addition to having the sanctions lifted on ISRO and other associated
organizations, she described some of the recent initiatives on the U.S.
side which are particularly reassuring to the Indian space sector.
"For instance, the current Administration’s Export Control Reform
initiative 2011 is shifting several items from the USML to the CCL.
This will impact upon the sensitivity attached to a particular item in
a positive manner and thereby ease the transaction in question," said
Dr. Rajagopalan.
The reassessment of the USML Category XV and the corresponding CCL
categories along with "fresh thinking" as to how some of these items on
these lists can be brought under Presidential control, wherein the U.S.
President could authorize sale / transfer through a statute has helped
to boost optimism.
"This is seen as an important move since technological development is
taking place at a radically fast pace and if the U.S. is not able to
adapt itself and be flexible, it is only likely to lose out, not just
in terms of participating in commercial ventures, but in strategic
terms as well," said Dr. Rajagopalan.
"Recently the Indian Minister of State Anand Sharma noted the success
of the clean energy initiative wherein there is greater participation
from the private sector as well as the academia," said Dr. Rajagopalan.
"Space cooperation can generate stakeholders across a wide spectrum,
from the national space agencies on both sides - NASA and ISRO -
education and science and technology departments to universities as
well as private commercial enterprises in both countries. In fact,
space cooperation has the potential to go far beyond entities like ISRO
and catalyze new strategic industries in space."
Seeing a jump of more than 50 per cent per year - from 99 export
applications from 41 applicants last year to 165 applications from 55
applicants this year - is bound to make many space entrepreneurs
downright jubilant.
According to a spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State, the State
Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) received a
total of 165 applications for so-called "USML Category XV" exports to
India from 55 applicants for the period from January to September 2011
whereas last year during the same period, DDTC received 99 applications
from 41 applicants.
"USML Category XV" refers to a broad category of items on the U.S.
Munitions List listed as "Spacecraft Systems and Associated Equipment."
Both the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and more specifically, the
International Traffic In Arms Regulations apply here.
The Missile Technology Control Regime Annex involving multiple items
for export that are controlled by both the Department of Commerce via
its Commodity Control List (CCL) and by the Department of State via its
USML is relevant to this discussion too.
Monitoring requirements are applied to licenses by the State Dept.
based on the recommendations received in the course of interagency
review and yet, once DDTC has finalized the license and imposes
monitoring requirements, it is up to the U.S. Defense Technology
Security Administration which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense
to implement and administer any monitoring if the export actually takes
place.
According to this same spokesperson, since the signing of the
Technology Safeguards Agreement between the Government of India and the
U.S. Government, DDTC has approved several licenses for the export of
USML hardware for incorporation into several civil spacecraft
manufactured outside of India which identified India as a potential
launch location.
Bharath Gopalaswamy, a senior research scholar at Cornell University’s
Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, is directing a
project on space security. When asked if the timing might be far from
ideal in terms of large scale exporting of space technology items from
eager companies in the U.S. to any potential partners in India, he
offered this quick assessment.
"The timing is not far from ideal. In fact, there is no ideal timing.
Large scale exporting is on three levels: political, technical and
bureaucratic. While politically Obama sent a signal earlier this year -
Indian entities were removed from the sanctions list - bureaucratically
this has to be implemented. This is a process and it is natural that it
takes its time," said Gopalaswamy.
In a paper he penned for the Center for Strategic and International
Studies entitled, "Indo-U.S. Space Cooperation: Aiming Higher" (August
2011), he stated that, "Indo - U.S. space cooperation is getting
traction, with prompting and support from the political leadership of
both countries."
However, while the political leadership cannot write the entire script
let alone fine tune any contractual details, it can help to ensure
that the bureaucracies in both countries are receptive to and
supportive of the objectives at hand.
"The bureaucracies are not fully familiar with each other. For example,
both countries want to actively collaborate in space. External
collaboration has always been a strong flavor of the Indian space
program - the Indian space program has been shaped by realism and
pragmatism," said Gopalaswamy. "It is just that identifying areas to
engage and structuring that cooperation with the U.S. has been
challenging because of the nature in which these bureaucracies
function."
Budgetary cutbacks in the U.S. space program and massive layoffs which
are putting NASA on edge are certainly prompting U.S. companies to
engage the Indian space sector.
"Shrinking resources and cutbacks in the US space program is causing
American companies to seek ventures abroad; India is a very attractive
customer!" said Gopalaswamy.
Both sides ought to contemplate how far they can go down the
reciprocally beneficial path wherein New Delhi is authorized to engage
in commercial space launches of U.S. satellites or satellites with
U.S.- origin components, paired in exchange for liberalization of
India's space industrial base so that private American firms could bid
for contracts within India's civilian space market, and in conjunction
with private Indian players supply space-linked commercial services to
the Indian market, according to Sourabh Gupta, senior research
associate at Samuels International in Washington, DC.
"Regarding India, with its civilian space entities finally off the
entity list, maybe it is time for forward movement towards a commercial
space launch agreement. But I have heard no footsteps in this direction
particularly during their recent Strategic Dialogue," said Gupta who
recommends moving the relationship beyond a strictly
government-to-government one, and lowering protectionist barriers that
restrict American participation in the civilian space market.
"This won't be realized immediately, but this ought to be the logical
next step in discussions, now that the "entity list" irritants have
been solved," said Gupta who also drew attention to, "the stand-offish
ways of the U.S. on civilian space - many of which are for good
reasons - which are also gradually debilitating to its interests."
"By playing a comparatively limited role in the evolving realm of
technological cooperation among space-faring aspirants, it is losing
some of its ability to shape best practices and deepen relationships,"
said Gupta. "Understandably there are reasons why the U.S. does not
want to assist in development of indigenous launch
capabilities, etc., but there surely could be other civilian space
sub-sectors where dual technology cooperation and advisory input on
technological development by the U.S. is feasible."
Cooperation may finally be picking up speed now, but it is not a
fast-paced phenomenon.
"Space has remained an important agenda in U.S. - India relations for
more than a decade now. Space cooperation has been identified in
almost all conceivable bilateral documents between the two countries,
although in reality, space has remained in the realm of potentials,"
said Dr. Rajeswari Rajagopalan, senior fellow in security studies at
the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "Now that the nuclear
deal is over between India and the U.S., the need for a big idea to
drive the relations is urgent and is of import. In the absence of a big
idea, there is a fear that the countries could drift apart even when
there is intent at the highest level of the political leadership in
both countries."
How can both countries elevate three strategic objectives through a
mutually beneficial space cooperation initiative?
"First, it provides an exciting investment area of space in the Indo -
U.S. strategic partnership for Indian and American leaders to work on,
which addresses STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics), jobs and high-tech cooperation in space," said Dr.
Rajagopalan. "Second, it can catapult space industrialization and
commercial space from the edge of the Indian and American national
space paradigm to its forefront. Third, it can garner further resources
for our own STEM in developing a future strategic industry."
She recommended that, "a Space Commercial Initiative / Space Knowledge
Initiative modeled around the US -India Agricultural Knowledge
Initiative or the Clean Energy Initiative. This would go a long way in
sustaining everyone's interest and ensuring the longevity of space
cooperation."
Besides, she added, "India has been attached a great deal of importance
to Obama’s vision for the future as far as the space domain is
concerned. With the removal of most U.S. high technology sanctions on
Indian agencies, particularly on ISRO, few hurdles remain in the path
of greater cooperation in this arena."
In addition to having the sanctions lifted on ISRO and other associated
organizations, she described some of the recent initiatives on the U.S.
side which are particularly reassuring to the Indian space sector.
"For instance, the current Administration’s Export Control Reform
initiative 2011 is shifting several items from the USML to the CCL.
This will impact upon the sensitivity attached to a particular item in
a positive manner and thereby ease the transaction in question," said
Dr. Rajagopalan.
The reassessment of the USML Category XV and the corresponding CCL
categories along with "fresh thinking" as to how some of these items on
these lists can be brought under Presidential control, wherein the U.S.
President could authorize sale / transfer through a statute has helped
to boost optimism.
"This is seen as an important move since technological development is
taking place at a radically fast pace and if the U.S. is not able to
adapt itself and be flexible, it is only likely to lose out, not just
in terms of participating in commercial ventures, but in strategic
terms as well," said Dr. Rajagopalan.
"Recently the Indian Minister of State Anand Sharma noted the success
of the clean energy initiative wherein there is greater participation
from the private sector as well as the academia," said Dr. Rajagopalan.
"Space cooperation can generate stakeholders across a wide spectrum,
from the national space agencies on both sides - NASA and ISRO -
education and science and technology departments to universities as
well as private commercial enterprises in both countries. In fact,
space cooperation has the potential to go far beyond entities like ISRO
and catalyze new strategic industries in space."
Seeing a jump of more than 50 per cent per year - from 99 export
applications from 41 applicants last year to 165 applications from 55
applicants this year - is bound to make many space entrepreneurs
downright jubilant.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Next U.S. Ambassador to India - A Space Savvy California Politician?
Josh Rogin pens a finely tuned blog called "The Cable" which is all about the behind the scenes activities which help shape U.S. diplomacy. It is an excellent resource.
On September 1, Rogin disclosed that he had obtained a letter written by a Democratic Congressman from California - Rep. Brad Sherman - which was about to be sent to President Obama. The letter seeks to place former California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante on the list of suitable and capable candidates to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to India.
See Rogin's complete post here -
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/01/brad_sherman_pushes_calif_politician_for_india_ambassador
Among other things, the letter calls attention to Bustamante's "extensive work on issues of international trade and economic development," but the letter says nothing - or at least Rogin makes no mention of it - about Bustamante's interest and track record when it comes to aerospace-related matters.
Of course, you would expect someone who was elected to the second highest office in a big traditional aerospace and hot "New Space" state like California to be fairly well versed in the details surrounding space-related developments. Bustamante hails from the state where the fast-paced launch venture SpaceX is headquartered, for example.
Bustamante never soared into space himself, but he did occupy a seat on the Executive Board of the Aerospace States Association (ASA) five years ago. The ASA is a dynamic organization, but not very loud. And in 2006, Bustamante served as one of the Vice Chairs of the ASA.
A press release on the ASA web site at the time described the organization's mission as follows -
"ASA is a bi-partisan representative of the grass roots of American
Aerospace. It is a scientific and educational organization of
Lieutenant Governors and appointed delegates from more than forty
states. ASA was formed to promote a state-based perspective in federal
aerospace policy development and to support state aerospace initiatives
that enhance student/teacher education outreach and economic
development opportunities."
“America is being challenged by many nations around the world that are
aggressively investing in their own aerospace industries and workforce.
Numerous Presidential and Congressional reports document this
challenge. I believe that ASA can and should work to rally America to
improve U.S. aerospace competitiveness,” said the ASA's Chairman back in 2006.
Five years later, the current state of U.S. aerospace competitiveness is a very big deal indeed, and the ASA's focus on it is not diminished. As a result, one ASA goal today - "Maintain global leadership in space and expand jobs by 20%" - might be construed as being on a collision course with India's efforts to increase its share of global space launch revenues, among other things. Maybe this is the wrong way to spin this ASA objective, but it would be deceiving to suggest that the ASA has somehow changed its tune in the past 5 years. If anything, the ASA was moving steadily ahead years ago to try and address many of the controversial and even painful issues which are swirling around the embattled U.S. space sector today.
See
http://aerostates.org/about-asa/goals
However, the point here is not to declare that Bustamante's viewpoint is the same as the ASA'S in all instances - this may be true or not true - or to say that he enjoys universal support from the entire California space sector or that he is going to automatically ascend to this specific post as the next ambassador to India. This writer is not prepared nor inclined to engage in speculation of this type.
Instead, the goal here is to draw attention to the notion that holding space credentials of any kind might matter more now than in the past especially when it comes to participating on the front lines of U.S. diplomacy - in India and elsewhere. For this reason, the fact that Bustamante went the extra mile at the ASA seems like more of an attribute than a deficiency regardless of what the ASA seeks to accomplish. At a time, when the U.S. wants India to act as a predictable partner, all the cards will have to be played openly on the table. That includes the space card as well.
On September 1, Rogin disclosed that he had obtained a letter written by a Democratic Congressman from California - Rep. Brad Sherman - which was about to be sent to President Obama. The letter seeks to place former California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante on the list of suitable and capable candidates to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to India.
See Rogin's complete post here -
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/01/brad_sherman_pushes_calif_politician_for_india_ambassador
Among other things, the letter calls attention to Bustamante's "extensive work on issues of international trade and economic development," but the letter says nothing - or at least Rogin makes no mention of it - about Bustamante's interest and track record when it comes to aerospace-related matters.
Of course, you would expect someone who was elected to the second highest office in a big traditional aerospace and hot "New Space" state like California to be fairly well versed in the details surrounding space-related developments. Bustamante hails from the state where the fast-paced launch venture SpaceX is headquartered, for example.
Bustamante never soared into space himself, but he did occupy a seat on the Executive Board of the Aerospace States Association (ASA) five years ago. The ASA is a dynamic organization, but not very loud. And in 2006, Bustamante served as one of the Vice Chairs of the ASA.
A press release on the ASA web site at the time described the organization's mission as follows -
"ASA is a bi-partisan representative of the grass roots of American
Aerospace. It is a scientific and educational organization of
Lieutenant Governors and appointed delegates from more than forty
states. ASA was formed to promote a state-based perspective in federal
aerospace policy development and to support state aerospace initiatives
that enhance student/teacher education outreach and economic
development opportunities."
“America is being challenged by many nations around the world that are
aggressively investing in their own aerospace industries and workforce.
Numerous Presidential and Congressional reports document this
challenge. I believe that ASA can and should work to rally America to
improve U.S. aerospace competitiveness,” said the ASA's Chairman back in 2006.
Five years later, the current state of U.S. aerospace competitiveness is a very big deal indeed, and the ASA's focus on it is not diminished. As a result, one ASA goal today - "Maintain global leadership in space and expand jobs by 20%" - might be construed as being on a collision course with India's efforts to increase its share of global space launch revenues, among other things. Maybe this is the wrong way to spin this ASA objective, but it would be deceiving to suggest that the ASA has somehow changed its tune in the past 5 years. If anything, the ASA was moving steadily ahead years ago to try and address many of the controversial and even painful issues which are swirling around the embattled U.S. space sector today.
See
http://aerostates.org/about-asa/goals
However, the point here is not to declare that Bustamante's viewpoint is the same as the ASA'S in all instances - this may be true or not true - or to say that he enjoys universal support from the entire California space sector or that he is going to automatically ascend to this specific post as the next ambassador to India. This writer is not prepared nor inclined to engage in speculation of this type.
Instead, the goal here is to draw attention to the notion that holding space credentials of any kind might matter more now than in the past especially when it comes to participating on the front lines of U.S. diplomacy - in India and elsewhere. For this reason, the fact that Bustamante went the extra mile at the ASA seems like more of an attribute than a deficiency regardless of what the ASA seeks to accomplish. At a time, when the U.S. wants India to act as a predictable partner, all the cards will have to be played openly on the table. That includes the space card as well.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Google Lunar X Prize competition feels the heat from Shanghai
Markus Bindhammer heads China's only Google Lunar X Prize team known as Team Selene. He is a German engineer based in Shanghai and he is not shy about sharing his views about the conduct of the competition.
The winning team in this competition could walk away with $20 million or more.
This week Bindhammer let everyone know that his patience is being tried again. He quoted directly from the MTA 3.0 which is the latest version of the so-called Master Team Agreement. Here are a few excerpts from a post on his team blog -
"X PRIZE Foundation employees and their families may neither participate in, nor have a financial interest in the Google Lunar X PRIZE TEAMs or CRAFTs. Officers and Trustees of the X PRIZE Foundation must comply with the Foundation’s Conflict of Interest policy, which requires that they disclose possible conflicts and recuse themselves from any relevant deliberations or decisions regarding the development of PRIZEs under development or offered by the Foundation in which they may have a direct or indirect financial interest."
Bindhammer wrote that, "nobody seems to care about that Naveen Jain serves on the Board of the X PRIZE (Foundation) and is at the same time the primarily backer of Moon Express, one of 28 GLXP competitors."
He continued -
"While the still legal binding MTA 3.0 also states:
"Teams shall publish a minimum of one blog per week to an XPF-designated website. Teams shall post a minimum cumulative duration of forty-five minutes of video per calendar quarter. Teams shall post a minimum of 3 substantively different videos per month.
"and there is a clear procedure in case of non-compliance
"If your team fails to meet one or more of these requirements, we have instituted a 3-stage process in order to help your team get back on track. First, if your team was out of compliance during the past quarter of the calendar year, you will receive a letter stating that your team has 30 days to take corrective action to come into compliance with the requirements of section 6.3.2. If your team remains out of compliance after those 30 days, you will receive a second letter informing you that your team is suspended from the competition. While suspended, your team will not be included in X PRIZE Foundation public relations announcements, events, etc. (though information about your team will remain available on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website during the suspension). Your team will then have 30 days to take corrective action to come into compliance with the requirements of section 6.3.2. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from the competition.
"several teams violating the paragraph over many months without any consequences. One team even tries to circumvent the paragraph by using a blog robot."
He concluded -
"You may now ask if it make sense to carry these things to the public. It makes sense, because the breeding ground for such wheelings and dealings is exactly secrecy and exclusion of publicity."
You can read Bindhammer's entire post - "More rumble in the Google Lunar X Prize jungle" - here
http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/teams/selene/blog/more-rumble-in-the-google-lunar-x-prize-jungle
Disclaimer - I have assisted Bindhammer in the past in the preparation of his Team Selene posts, but I have not done so lately. I have also assisted other GLXP teams. Team Selenokhod in Russia requests my assistance most frequently.
The winning team in this competition could walk away with $20 million or more.
This week Bindhammer let everyone know that his patience is being tried again. He quoted directly from the MTA 3.0 which is the latest version of the so-called Master Team Agreement. Here are a few excerpts from a post on his team blog -
"X PRIZE Foundation employees and their families may neither participate in, nor have a financial interest in the Google Lunar X PRIZE TEAMs or CRAFTs. Officers and Trustees of the X PRIZE Foundation must comply with the Foundation’s Conflict of Interest policy, which requires that they disclose possible conflicts and recuse themselves from any relevant deliberations or decisions regarding the development of PRIZEs under development or offered by the Foundation in which they may have a direct or indirect financial interest."
Bindhammer wrote that, "nobody seems to care about that Naveen Jain serves on the Board of the X PRIZE (Foundation) and is at the same time the primarily backer of Moon Express, one of 28 GLXP competitors."
He continued -
"While the still legal binding MTA 3.0 also states:
"Teams shall publish a minimum of one blog per week to an XPF-designated website. Teams shall post a minimum cumulative duration of forty-five minutes of video per calendar quarter. Teams shall post a minimum of 3 substantively different videos per month.
"and there is a clear procedure in case of non-compliance
"If your team fails to meet one or more of these requirements, we have instituted a 3-stage process in order to help your team get back on track. First, if your team was out of compliance during the past quarter of the calendar year, you will receive a letter stating that your team has 30 days to take corrective action to come into compliance with the requirements of section 6.3.2. If your team remains out of compliance after those 30 days, you will receive a second letter informing you that your team is suspended from the competition. While suspended, your team will not be included in X PRIZE Foundation public relations announcements, events, etc. (though information about your team will remain available on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website during the suspension). Your team will then have 30 days to take corrective action to come into compliance with the requirements of section 6.3.2. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from the competition.
"several teams violating the paragraph over many months without any consequences. One team even tries to circumvent the paragraph by using a blog robot."
He concluded -
"You may now ask if it make sense to carry these things to the public. It makes sense, because the breeding ground for such wheelings and dealings is exactly secrecy and exclusion of publicity."
You can read Bindhammer's entire post - "More rumble in the Google Lunar X Prize jungle" - here
http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/teams/selene/blog/more-rumble-in-the-google-lunar-x-prize-jungle
Disclaimer - I have assisted Bindhammer in the past in the preparation of his Team Selene posts, but I have not done so lately. I have also assisted other GLXP teams. Team Selenokhod in Russia requests my assistance most frequently.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Susmita and Amaresh have much more than Mars on their minds
Susmita Mohanty and Amaresh Kollipara have much more than Mars on their
minds. Together they created Earth2Orbit (E2O) which is described as
India’s first private space start-up. It is headquartered in Mumbai
with offices in Bangalore, San Francisco and Vienna where Dr. Barbara
Imhof oversees E2O's European operations. The team wants to start an
office in Tokyo too.
Placing small satellites in orbit appears to be E2O's primary mission -
at least that is how I perceive E2O after reading the company brief
where Section 2.1 - "International Launch Brokering" - clearly states
that "E2O serves as an 'integrated business window' to ISRO’s marketing
arm, ANTRIX and offers international clients primary and secondary
launches onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The
advantage the PSLV has over its competitors includes greater launch
frequency and competitive pricing. ANTRIX also offers discounted
pricing for universities and non-commercial missions. "
Satellites with a full launch weight well under 2000 kg are best suited
to ride aboard the PSLV which is why India is developing and promoting
its GSLV program to ultimately lift larger satellites into orbit. An enhanced PSLV-XL version which was used to launch ISRO's 1400kg-plus GSAT-12 satellite last month also took ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 aloft on its lunar mission.
"We offer satellite clients turnkey services that include: launch
procurement, launch quote negotiations with ANTRIX, contract
management, satellite testing, integration, logistics management,
launch and post-launch mission support. We also offer them ancillary
launch hardware such as orbital deployers (also known as separation
mechanisms or satellite dispensers)" the E2O brief added.
Here you see that E2O is much more than some sort of PSLV gatekeeper
and it is positioning itself to be a full service provider to "New
Space" sector companies. And this raises another critical question as
well.
Would Mohanty be a strong candidate to take charge of ISRO?
I am inclined to think so. At least she should be given her turn at the
helm. Take a moment to read her recent Gateway House commentary - "A
Tale of Two Rockets" - which she penned earlier this year and you can
perhaps understand how I formulated my viewpoint in this instance.
See
http://www.gatewayhouse.in/publication/gateway-house/features/tale-two-
rockets
Would the new launch pad at SHAR have gone much more quickly if she was
running the show? Would ISRO be further down the road in general? These
and other questions cannot go unmentioned.
"Theoretically, ISRO is capable of building and launching five to six
PSLVs per year. But for the past few years, it has barely launched two
a year. This is most likely because our national priorities precede any
commercial intent. While this may seem appropriate, commercial intent
can be pursued in parallel and does not have displace priority
missions. As a nation, we have an opportunity to articulate and pursue
commercial dominance of the international launch market as part of the
mission of our space programme" she wrote.
Consider carefully the final two recommendations that she made - out of
a total of 11.
"(10) Bet on young entrepreneurs and new companies
"As it did with IT, the Indian government needs to create a business
environment to nurture a new breed of entrepreneurs that will go out
and privatize the space sector and compete in the international market.
Breakthrough innovation almost always comes from new entrants, rather
than existing corporations that are weighed down by entrenched business
models and legacy cost structures.
"(11) Think in 50 to 100 year cycles, not in 5 to 10 year cycles."
"India needs vision as much as it needs an outward-looking, even
aggressive, space policy. India needs to think long term while creating
a commercial roadmap for space," she concluded.
There is no doubt that she sees the big picture and she has a talented
and yet tiny team to assist her besides. Kollipara with his MBA from
Columbia University is keen and competent to run the numbers. He is a
regular at the annual "Space Investment Summit" and compliments Mohanty
well. We caught up with him just after he spoke at the "New Space 2011"
conference.
He admitted that nobody from E2O was attending the 25th Annual Small
Satellite Conference in Utah this week. An awkward situation no doubt
given that this event is held each year at Utah State University and
attracts hundreds of researchers as well as staff members from
government agencies both military and civilian and aspiring New Space
entrepeneurs.
"No. We usually attend every year...but this year we have some
interesting projects that require us to engage in client discussions
this week" said Kollipara who serves as E2O's San Francisco-based CEO -
USA while Mohanty serves as CEO - India.
I would estimate that half the crowd in Utah this week would welcome a
chance to talk to E2O about how best to obtain a ticket to ride aboard
the PSLV.
"ISRO will have to make it attractive for private companies to enter
the satellite manufacturing and launch business. Only then can we hope
to bring down the launch prices further as has been demonstrated by the
new California based company SpaceX. The Obama administration has
radically reformed their national space policy letting private
companies like SpaceX take the lead in developing low-cost, reliable,
and efficient space transportation options for the American space
programme" a recent E2O memo stated. "This will allow American
launchers to compete with the low cost launchers from Russia, India and
China. India needs to get its act together and consider significant
changes to its space policy if it wants to create a thriving space
industry. And by ‘industry’, we mean not just companies that supply
parts to ISRO, but also companies that can go out and capture a chunk
of the 160 billion dollar international market."
E2O has been pursuing its objectives since 2008 and the time has come
for E2O to initiate a more aggressive campaign.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Upcoming UN-SPIDER conference in Beijing will examine role of satellites in Japanese disaster
In late November, experts will gather in Beijing for the United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Risk Management. Shirish Ravan is playing a key role in organizing this upcoming session. He is in charge of the Beijing office of the UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER)which is part of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
"The recent Japanese tsunami has alerted us to the fact that even the most prepared country can also be heavily impacted. Therefore, we have decided to focus more on space-based information preparedness and the challenges in providing rapid mapping products," said Ravan. "We are in discussions with our regional support office, the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre, to plan a joint workshop in order to share the lessons learned by Japan in terms of preparing and distributing various information products quickly. We hope this will be useful for all Asian countries that are exposed to the risk of tsunamis and earthquakes."
Ravan hails from India's Maharashtra State, and after he earned his Masters degree in Environmental Sciences, he completed his Doctorate
at ISRO's Institute of Remote Sensing. Prior to arriving in Beijing, Ravan coordinated the UN opium monitoring project in Afghanistan, a job that involved oversight of massive amounts of remote sensing data.
The UN-SPIDER Beijing office is a global office which is attempting to promote and vastly increase the use of space-based information in disaster
management throughout Asia. Besides Ravan, the Government of China has assigned two experienced operational staff to this small office, and one other staff member handles program support.
Because Asia and the Pacific region are so prone to all kinds of disaster -related risks, and because many countries in the region have limited access to space-based information - or no space capabilities whatsoever - with the exception of China, India, Japan, Korea and Thailand, all efforts to enhance the use of satellite technology in this regard are important.
"Due to this peculiar nature of this region, there are many initiatives for disaster reduction and emergency response by the UN and other organizations. Our presence in the region allows us to collaborate well with these organizations," said Ravan. "Institutions in China
possess excellent capabilities in using space technology for disaster
management and they are ready to offer their services to developing
countries. UN-SPIDER is building partnership with these institutions
to roll out these benefits to our member states."
The UN-SPIDER's major initiatives in Asia and other regions are well-funded. These include various technical advisory missions.
"We will go to a country upon their invitation. Typically, these are 5 days missions where our expert group visits the country under UN-SPIDER leadership. We meet heads of all stakeholder organizations involved in disaster management and look into issues related to disaster management plans, policies, data, coordination, institutional arrangements etc," said Ravan. "We conduct one-day workshops involving all stakeholders. The host government can then act on the recommendations provided by the mission experts to boost disaster management efforts involving space technology."
Recent missions visited Bangladesh, and Sudan (part of a Horn of Africa initiative)- and one to Sri Lanka is planned. A partnership developed with National Disaster Reduction Centre of China (NDRCC) is yielding positive results.
"We are also working closely with the Centre for Space Science Technology for Asia and the Pacific which is based in Dehrdaun,India. This is one of the five regional centres affiliated with the UN for capacity building in space technology. We have planned a one-month course (9 April to 4 May 2012) on Space Technology Applications in Disaster Risk Reduction. The course is designed based on the needs we identified through our technical advisory missions," said Ravan.
UN-SPIDER will sponsor officers from the countries that are working
closely with UN-SPIDER to attend this course. Many more such capacity
building programme will be planned with different partners in the
region. Ravan and his team are expecting 200 disaster risk management and
space-technology experts to participate in the upcoming session in Beijing.
More information on the United Nations International Conference on
Space-based Technologies for Disaster Risk Management -
“Best Practices for Risk Reduction and Rapid Response Mapping” is available at -
http://www.un-spider.org/conference-beijing-2011
"The recent Japanese tsunami has alerted us to the fact that even the most prepared country can also be heavily impacted. Therefore, we have decided to focus more on space-based information preparedness and the challenges in providing rapid mapping products," said Ravan. "We are in discussions with our regional support office, the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre, to plan a joint workshop in order to share the lessons learned by Japan in terms of preparing and distributing various information products quickly. We hope this will be useful for all Asian countries that are exposed to the risk of tsunamis and earthquakes."
Ravan hails from India's Maharashtra State, and after he earned his Masters degree in Environmental Sciences, he completed his Doctorate
at ISRO's Institute of Remote Sensing. Prior to arriving in Beijing, Ravan coordinated the UN opium monitoring project in Afghanistan, a job that involved oversight of massive amounts of remote sensing data.
The UN-SPIDER Beijing office is a global office which is attempting to promote and vastly increase the use of space-based information in disaster
management throughout Asia. Besides Ravan, the Government of China has assigned two experienced operational staff to this small office, and one other staff member handles program support.
Because Asia and the Pacific region are so prone to all kinds of disaster -related risks, and because many countries in the region have limited access to space-based information - or no space capabilities whatsoever - with the exception of China, India, Japan, Korea and Thailand, all efforts to enhance the use of satellite technology in this regard are important.
"Due to this peculiar nature of this region, there are many initiatives for disaster reduction and emergency response by the UN and other organizations. Our presence in the region allows us to collaborate well with these organizations," said Ravan. "Institutions in China
possess excellent capabilities in using space technology for disaster
management and they are ready to offer their services to developing
countries. UN-SPIDER is building partnership with these institutions
to roll out these benefits to our member states."
The UN-SPIDER's major initiatives in Asia and other regions are well-funded. These include various technical advisory missions.
"We will go to a country upon their invitation. Typically, these are 5 days missions where our expert group visits the country under UN-SPIDER leadership. We meet heads of all stakeholder organizations involved in disaster management and look into issues related to disaster management plans, policies, data, coordination, institutional arrangements etc," said Ravan. "We conduct one-day workshops involving all stakeholders. The host government can then act on the recommendations provided by the mission experts to boost disaster management efforts involving space technology."
Recent missions visited Bangladesh, and Sudan (part of a Horn of Africa initiative)- and one to Sri Lanka is planned. A partnership developed with National Disaster Reduction Centre of China (NDRCC) is yielding positive results.
"We are also working closely with the Centre for Space Science Technology for Asia and the Pacific which is based in Dehrdaun,India. This is one of the five regional centres affiliated with the UN for capacity building in space technology. We have planned a one-month course (9 April to 4 May 2012) on Space Technology Applications in Disaster Risk Reduction. The course is designed based on the needs we identified through our technical advisory missions," said Ravan.
UN-SPIDER will sponsor officers from the countries that are working
closely with UN-SPIDER to attend this course. Many more such capacity
building programme will be planned with different partners in the
region. Ravan and his team are expecting 200 disaster risk management and
space-technology experts to participate in the upcoming session in Beijing.
More information on the United Nations International Conference on
Space-based Technologies for Disaster Risk Management -
“Best Practices for Risk Reduction and Rapid Response Mapping” is available at -
http://www.un-spider.org/conference-beijing-2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
India and the legacy of EDUSAT
In 2004, India took an unprecedented step in space by launching EDUSAT
- aka GSAT-3 - the world's first satellite dedicated entirely to
expanding educational opportunities and programs nationwide.
Satellite-based distance education had been in full swing worldwide for
more than a decade, but despite many attempts to propel this phenomenon
to the next level, India alone went ahead and set the bar at a new
height.
The magnitude of this event was immediately evident to the satellite
industry at large. While EDUSAT certainly encountered its share of
challenges and had its moments of performance anxiety along the way,
the mission moved steadily forward until last year.
GSAT-12 which was launched in mid-July as a replacement for INSAT 3B
satellite has been described as a satellite that will support
telemedicine, distance education, and other services for rural
communities, and yet it is GSAT-14 that is often described as the
actual replacement for EDUSAT. GSAT-14's launch in 2012 will be closely
watched indeed as it will again bring India's domestically developed
cryogenic engine into the spotlight following a launch failure
involving this specific rocket engine in 2010.
Anand Parthasarathy, Bangalore-based Editor of IndiaTechOnline.com
(http://www.indiatechonline.com) has followed EDUSAT closely over the
years.
"The original EDUSAT was in the Indian context, an idea ahead of its
time -- while the idea of a satellite dedicated to educational apps was
great in principle, it did not dovetail with terrestrial programmes to
harness the satellite," said Parthasarathy. "As a result, almost half
the useful life of the satellite was frittered away without any serious
programming effort by individual states in India."
Parthasarathy credits the Virtual Classroom Technology on Edusat for
Rural Schools (ViCTERS) channel in Kerala which was overseen by the
IT@School Department as "one of the few statewide distance educational
schemes that harnessed EDUSAT effectively." And thanks to the lessons
learned over the course of EDUSAT's lifetime, he is confident that
GSAT-12 will be better utilized.
"Telemedicine is widely seen as the next big thing in India to reach
out with technology to the rural 'unconnected' and GSAT-12 certainly
is both timely and appropriate for this application," said
Parthasarathy.
"I am not fully briefed on the details of what GSAT-12 is expected to
do -- but I would only caution that public interest projects like
these must be clearly separated from ISRO's techno - commercial
ventures. When EDUSAT stopped functioning, the educational programming
was shifted to INSAT 1c where it had to compete for transponders
with paying customers of ISRO," said Parthasarathy. "In the absence
of QoS commitments for the educational and not for profit work of
ISRO on par with what they need to adhere to with their commercial
customers, I believe the educational feeds suffered for weeks on end
with breaks in the link -- something unthinkable for paying clients."
The bottom line, according to Parthasarathy is that "ISRO should not be in a position of having to sacrifice its educational commitments at any time
for commercial reasons. (ISRO) must put in safeguards to make sure this never happens with (GSAT-12) or any future satellite which is primarily meant for public service."
Parthasarathy's advice in this case applies both to ISRO and its
non-profit arm for societal initiatives, the Ahmedabad-based
Development and Educational Communications Unit (DECU), which
Parthasarathy has accused in the past of disappointing millions of
Indian students and falling well short of their responsibility to
enable an support satellite-based distance education. He points
specifically to an incident in which thousands of virtual classrooms -
in both schools an universities - were left in the dark for at least a
month in Andhra Pradesh, Assam Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Kerala.
This unannounced shutdown affected thousands of institutions, including
numerous engineering colleges in Karnataka and more than 10,000 schools
and 6 million students in Kerala.
This satellite signal blackout is relevant here because regardless of
whether or not ISRO attributed it to interference issues with INSAT –
4CR - a replacement platform used after EDUSAT suddenly expired in
November, 2010 - the failure to explain what was happening quickly to
local network administrators was questionable at best given the magnitude of the disruption.
Parthasarathy accused ISRO and DECU of favoritism because commercial
customers were granted preferential treatment at the expense of millions of students who depended upon EDUSAT in the process.
By the way, Parthasarathy developed programming to compliment ViCTERS
in the form of a weekly show for students and families called “IT For
All”, which was augmented by IndiaTechOnline web content. Hence his
frustration and even anger with the way in which ISRO and DECU handled
the collapse of EDUSAT services.
One legacy of EDUSAT might be the granting of - and enforcement of - a
formal service level agreement with respect to rural telemedicine and
distance education services going forward.
Another legacy of EDUSAT might be better efforts to ensure sustained
and adequate redundancy in the future. For example, Kerala’s educators
had created a special website which carried ViCTERS as a live video
stream (http://www.victers.itschool.gov.in ). Still, thousands of students
with no access to Internet services were left in the dark.
Finally, what is lacking thus far is a formal assessment of EDUSAT
including any "lessons learned" as well as important insights into
planning and operations. Such a document would be not only valuable for
India's sake, but for other countries as well which might be
considering their own satellite-based distance education networks.
- aka GSAT-3 - the world's first satellite dedicated entirely to
expanding educational opportunities and programs nationwide.
Satellite-based distance education had been in full swing worldwide for
more than a decade, but despite many attempts to propel this phenomenon
to the next level, India alone went ahead and set the bar at a new
height.
The magnitude of this event was immediately evident to the satellite
industry at large. While EDUSAT certainly encountered its share of
challenges and had its moments of performance anxiety along the way,
the mission moved steadily forward until last year.
GSAT-12 which was launched in mid-July as a replacement for INSAT 3B
satellite has been described as a satellite that will support
telemedicine, distance education, and other services for rural
communities, and yet it is GSAT-14 that is often described as the
actual replacement for EDUSAT. GSAT-14's launch in 2012 will be closely
watched indeed as it will again bring India's domestically developed
cryogenic engine into the spotlight following a launch failure
involving this specific rocket engine in 2010.
Anand Parthasarathy, Bangalore-based Editor of IndiaTechOnline.com
(http://www.indiatechonline.com) has followed EDUSAT closely over the
years.
"The original EDUSAT was in the Indian context, an idea ahead of its
time -- while the idea of a satellite dedicated to educational apps was
great in principle, it did not dovetail with terrestrial programmes to
harness the satellite," said Parthasarathy. "As a result, almost half
the useful life of the satellite was frittered away without any serious
programming effort by individual states in India."
Parthasarathy credits the Virtual Classroom Technology on Edusat for
Rural Schools (ViCTERS) channel in Kerala which was overseen by the
IT@School Department as "one of the few statewide distance educational
schemes that harnessed EDUSAT effectively." And thanks to the lessons
learned over the course of EDUSAT's lifetime, he is confident that
GSAT-12 will be better utilized.
"Telemedicine is widely seen as the next big thing in India to reach
out with technology to the rural 'unconnected' and GSAT-12 certainly
is both timely and appropriate for this application," said
Parthasarathy.
"I am not fully briefed on the details of what GSAT-12 is expected to
do -- but I would only caution that public interest projects like
these must be clearly separated from ISRO's techno - commercial
ventures. When EDUSAT stopped functioning, the educational programming
was shifted to INSAT 1c where it had to compete for transponders
with paying customers of ISRO," said Parthasarathy. "In the absence
of QoS commitments for the educational and not for profit work of
ISRO on par with what they need to adhere to with their commercial
customers, I believe the educational feeds suffered for weeks on end
with breaks in the link -- something unthinkable for paying clients."
The bottom line, according to Parthasarathy is that "ISRO should not be in a position of having to sacrifice its educational commitments at any time
for commercial reasons. (ISRO) must put in safeguards to make sure this never happens with (GSAT-12) or any future satellite which is primarily meant for public service."
Parthasarathy's advice in this case applies both to ISRO and its
non-profit arm for societal initiatives, the Ahmedabad-based
Development and Educational Communications Unit (DECU), which
Parthasarathy has accused in the past of disappointing millions of
Indian students and falling well short of their responsibility to
enable an support satellite-based distance education. He points
specifically to an incident in which thousands of virtual classrooms -
in both schools an universities - were left in the dark for at least a
month in Andhra Pradesh, Assam Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Kerala.
This unannounced shutdown affected thousands of institutions, including
numerous engineering colleges in Karnataka and more than 10,000 schools
and 6 million students in Kerala.
This satellite signal blackout is relevant here because regardless of
whether or not ISRO attributed it to interference issues with INSAT –
4CR - a replacement platform used after EDUSAT suddenly expired in
November, 2010 - the failure to explain what was happening quickly to
local network administrators was questionable at best given the magnitude of the disruption.
Parthasarathy accused ISRO and DECU of favoritism because commercial
customers were granted preferential treatment at the expense of millions of students who depended upon EDUSAT in the process.
By the way, Parthasarathy developed programming to compliment ViCTERS
in the form of a weekly show for students and families called “IT For
All”, which was augmented by IndiaTechOnline web content. Hence his
frustration and even anger with the way in which ISRO and DECU handled
the collapse of EDUSAT services.
One legacy of EDUSAT might be the granting of - and enforcement of - a
formal service level agreement with respect to rural telemedicine and
distance education services going forward.
Another legacy of EDUSAT might be better efforts to ensure sustained
and adequate redundancy in the future. For example, Kerala’s educators
had created a special website which carried ViCTERS as a live video
stream (http://www.victers.itschool.gov.in ). Still, thousands of students
with no access to Internet services were left in the dark.
Finally, what is lacking thus far is a formal assessment of EDUSAT
including any "lessons learned" as well as important insights into
planning and operations. Such a document would be not only valuable for
India's sake, but for other countries as well which might be
considering their own satellite-based distance education networks.
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