Controversies

S-band spectrum scam[edit]

In India, electromagnetic spectrum, being a scarce resource for wireless communication, is auctioned by the Government of India to telecom companies for use. As an example of its value, in 2010, 20 MHz of 3G spectrum was auctioned for ₹677 billion (US$10 billion). This part of the spectrum is allocated for terrestrial communication (cell phones). However, in January 2005, Antrix Corporation (commercial arm of ISRO) signed an agreement with Devas Multimedia (a private company formed by former ISRO employees and venture capitalists from USA) for lease of S band transponders (amounting to 70 MHz of spectrum) on two ISRO satellites (GSAT 6 and GSAT 6A) for a price of ₹14 billion (US$210 million), to be paid over a period of 12 years. The spectrum used in these satellites (2500 MHz and above) is allocated by the International Telecommunication Union specifically for satellite-based communication in India. Hypothetically, if the spectrum allocation is changed for utilisation for terrestrial transmission and if this 70 MHz of spectrum were sold at the 2010 auction price of the 3G spectrum, its value would have been over ₹2,000 billion (US$31 billion). This was a hypothetical situation. However, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India considered this hypothetical situation and estimated the difference between the prices as a loss to the Indian Government.^{[122][123][124]}

There were lapses on implementing Government of India procedures. Antrix/ISRO had allocated the capacity of the above two satellites to Devas Multimedia on an exclusive basis, while rules said it should always be non-exclusive. The Cabinet was misinformed in November 2005 that several service providers were interested in using satellite capacity, while the Devas deal was already signed. Also, the Space Commission was kept in the dark while taking approval for the second satellite (its cost was diluted so that Cabinet approval was not needed). ISRO committed to spending ₹7.66 billion (US$120 million) of public money on building, launching, and operating two satellites that were leased out for Devas.^[125]

In late 2009, some ISRO insiders exposed information about the Devas-Antrix deal,^[124][126] and the ensuing investigations resulted in the deal being annulled. G. Madhavan Nair (ISRO Chairperson when the agreement was signed) was barred from holding any post under the Department of Space. Some former scientists were found guilty of "acts of commission" or "acts of omission". Devas and Deutsche Telekom demanded US$2 billion and US$1 billion, respectively, in damages.^[127] Government of India's Department of Revenue and Ministry of Corporate Affairs initiated an inquiry into Devas shareholding.^[125]

The Central Bureau of Investigation concluded investigations into the Antrix-Devas scam and registered a case against the accused in the Antrix-Devas deal under Section 120-B, besides Section 420 of IPC and Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988 on 18 March 2015 against the then Executive Director of Antrix Corporation, two officials of USA-based company, Bangalore based private multimedia company, and other unknown officials of Antrix Corporation or Department of Space.^[128][129]

Devas Multimedia started arbitration proceedings against Antrix in June 2011. In September 2015, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favour of Devas, and directed Antrix to pay US$672 million (Rs 44.35 billion) in damages to Devas.^[130] Antrix opposed the Devas plea for tribunal award in the Delhi High Court.

International co-operation

ISRO has had international co-operation since inception. Some instances are listed below:

• Establishment of TERLS, conduct of SITE & STEP, launches of Aryabhata, Bhaskara, APPLE, IRS-IA and IRS-IB/ satellites, manned space mission, etc. involved international co-operation.
• ISRO operates LUT/MCC under the international COSPAS/SARSAT Programme for Search and Rescue.
• India has established a Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTE-AP) that is sponsored by the United Nations.
• India hosted the Second UN-ESCAP Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific in November 1999.
• India is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Cospas-Sarsat, International Astronautical Federation, Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), International Space University, and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellite (CEOS).^[106]
• Chandrayaan-1 carried scientific payloads from NASA, ESA, Bulgarian Space Agency, and other institutions/companies in North America and Europe.
• The United States government on 24 January 2011, removed several Indian government agencies, including ISRO, from the so-called Entity List, in an effort to drive hi-tech trade and forge closer strategic ties with India.^[107]
• ISRO carries out joint operations with foreign space agencies, such as the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques Mission.^[106]
• At the International Astronautical Congress 2014 at Toronto, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan and NASA administrator Charles Bolden signed two documents. One was regarding the 2020 launch of a NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite mission to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes. The other was to establish a pathway for future joint missions to explore Mars.^[108]

Antrix Corporation, the commercial and marketing arm of ISRO, handles both domestic and foreign deals.^[109]
Formal co-operative arrangements in the form of memoranda of understanding or framework agreements have been signed with the following countries^[110]

• Argentina
• Australia
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Chile
• China
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Malaysia
• Mauritius
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Norway
• Peru
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Syria
• Thailand
• Netherlands
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Venezuela

The following foreign organisations also have signed various framework agreements with ISRO:-

• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
• EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites)
• European Space Agency

In the 39th Scientific Assembly of Committee on Space Research held in Mysore, the ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan called upon international synergy in space missions in view of their prohibitive cost. He also mentioned that ISRO is gearing up to meet the growing demand of service providers and security agencies in a cost effective manner.^[111]

Satellites launched by ISRO

As of June 2017, ISRO has launched 278 satellites, including 209 foreign ones using indigenously developed launch vehicles like SLV, ASLV, PSLV and GSLV.Though reliable, the PSLV can not launch satellites having mass greater than 1600 kg.^[112] ISRO has developed its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle for launching heavier satellites.^[113] ISRO also holds the world record for launching the most number of satellites, 104, in a single launch.^[10]

ISRO satellites launched by foreign agencies

5

10

15

20

25

30

Communication satellites

Earth observation satellites

Experimental satellites

Other

•   Ariane
•   Interkosmos
•   Vostok
•   Molniya
•   Delta
•   Space Shuttle

Several ISRO satellites have been launched by foreign space agencies (of Europe, USSR / Russia, and United States). The details (as of December 2016) are given in the table below.

Launch vehicle family	No. of ISRO satellites launched
	Communication satellites	Earth observation satellites	Experimental satellites	Other	Total
Europe
Ariane	20	0	1	0	21
USSR / Russia
Interkosmos	0	2	1	0	3
Vostok	0	2	0	0	2
Molniya	0	1	0	0	1
USA
Delta	2	0	0	0	2
Space Shuttle	1	0	0	0	1
Total	23	5	2	0	30

Those ISRO satellites that had a launch mass of 3000 kg or more, and were launched by foreign agencies, are listed in the table below.

No.	Satellite's name	Launch vehicle	Launch agency	Country / region of launch agency	Launch date	Launch mass	Power	Orbit type	Mission life	Other information	Reference(s)
1.	INSAT-4A	Ariane5-V169	Arianespace	Europe	22 December 2005	3081 kg with propellants (1386.55 kg dry mass)	5922 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	For communication.	[114]
2.	INSAT-4B	Ariane 5 ECA	Arianespace	Europe	12 March 2007	3025 kg with propellants	5859 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	Exclusively for communication.	[115]
3.	GSAT-8	Ariane-5 VA-202	Arianespace	Europe	21 May 2011	3093 kg with propellants (1426 kg dry mass)	6242 W	Geosynchronous	More than 12 years	Advanced, high power, communication satellite.	[116]
4.	GSAT-10	Ariane-5 VA-209	Arianespace	Europe	29 September 2010	3400 kg with propellants (1498 kg dry mass)	6474 W	Geosynchronous	15 years	For communication.	[117]
5.	GSAT-16	Ariane-5 VA-221	Arianespace	Europe	7 December 2014	3181.6 kg with propellants	6000 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	Advanced communication satellite. Configured to carry 48 communication transponders, the most in any ISRO communication satellite so far.	[118]
6.	GSAT-15	Ariane-5 VA-227	Arianespace	Europe	11 November 2015	3164 kg with propellants	6000 W	Geosynchronous	12 years	Advanced communication satellite. Configured to carry 24 communication transponders.	[119]
7.	GSAT-18	Ariane-5 VA-231	Arianespace	Europe	6 October 2016	3404 kg	6474 W	Geosynchronous	15 years	Communication satellites to carry 48 transponders	[120]
8.	GSAT-17	Ariane-5 VA-238	Arianespace	Europe	28 June 2017	3477 kg	6474 W	Geosynchronous	15 years	Communication satellites to carry 42 transponders	[121]

Applications

Telecommunication

India uses its satellites communication network – one of the largest in the world – for applications such as land management, water resources management, natural disaster forecasting, radio networking, weather forecasting, meteorological imaging and computer communication.^[99] Business, administrative services, and schemes such as the National Informatics Centre (NICNET) are direct beneficiaries of applied satellite technology.^[100] Dinshaw Mistry, on the subject of practical applications of the Indian space program, writes:

"The INSAT-2 satellites also provide telephone links to remote areas; data transmission for organisations such as the National Stock Exchange; mobile satellite service communications for private operators, railways, and road transport; and broadcast satellite services, used by India's state-owned television agency as well as commercial television channels. India's EDUSAT (Educational Satellite), launched aboard the GSLV in 2004, was intended for adult literacy and distance learning applications in rural areas. It augmented and would eventually replace such capabilities already provided by INSAT-3B."

Resource management

The IRS satellites have found applications with the Indian Natural Resource Management program, with Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres in five Indian cities, and with Remote Sensing Application Centres in twenty Indian states that use IRS images for economic development applications. These include environmental monitoring, analysing soil erosion and the impact of soil conservation measures, forestry management, determining land cover for wildlife sanctuaries, delineating groundwater potential zones, flood inundation mapping, drought monitoring, estimating crop acreage and deriving agricultural production estimates, fisheries monitoring, mining and geological applications such as surveying metal and mineral deposits, and urban planning.

Military

India's satellites and satellite launch vehicles have had military spin-offs. While India's 93–124-mile (150–250 km) range Prithvi missile is not derived from the Indian space programme, the intermediate range Agni missile is drawn from the Indian space programme's SLV-3. In its early years, when headed by Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan, ISRO opposed military applications for its dual-use projects such as the SLV-3. Eventually, however, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based missile programme borrowed human resources and technology from ISRO. Missile scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (elected president of India in 2002), who had headed the SLV-3 project at ISRO, moved to DRDO to direct India's missile programme. About a dozen scientists accompanied Kalam from ISRO to DRDO, where he designed the Agni missile using the SLV-3's solid fuel first stage and a liquid-fuel (Prithvi-missile-derived) second stage. The IRS and INSAT satellites were primarily intended and used for civilian-economic applications, but they also offered military spin-offs. In 1996 New Delhi's Ministry of Defence temporarily blocked the use of IRS-1C by India's environmental and agricultural ministries to monitor ballistic missiles near India's borders. In 1997 the Indian Air Force's "Airpower Doctrine" aspired to use space assets for surveillance and battle management.^[101]

Academic

Institutions like the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Indian Institutes of Technology use satellites for scholarly applications.^[102] Between 1975 and 1976, India conducted its largest sociological programme using space technology, reaching 2400 villages through video programming in local languages aimed at educational development via ATS-6 technology developed by NASA.^[103] This experiment—named Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE)—conducted large scale video broadcasts resulting in significant improvement in rural education.^[103] Education could reach far remote rural places with the help of above programs.

Telemedicine

ISRO has applied its technology for telemedicine, directly connecting patients in rural areas to medical professionals in urban locations via satellites.^[102] Since high-quality healthcare is not universally available in some of the remote areas of India, the patients in remote areas are diagnosed and analyzed by doctors in urban centers in real time via video conferencing.^[102] The patient is then advised medicine and treatment.^[102] The patient is then treated by the staff at one of the 'super-specialty hospitals' under instructions from the doctor.^[102] Mobile telemedicine vans are also deployed to visit locations in far-flung areas and provide diagnosis and support to patients.^[102]

Biodiversity Information System

ISRO has also helped implement India's Biodiversity Information System, completed in October 2002.^[104] Nirupa Sen details the program: "Based on intensive field sampling and mapping using satellite remote sensing and geospatial modeling tools, maps have been made of vegetation cover on a 1: 250,000 scale. This has been put together in a web-enabled database that links gene-level information of plant species with spatial information in a BIOSPEC database of the ecological hot spot regions, namely northeastern India, Western Ghats, Western Himalayas and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This has been made possible with collaboration between the Department of Biotechnology and ISRO."^[104]

Cartography

The Indian IRS-P5 (CARTOSAT-1) was equipped with high-resolution panchromatic equipment to enable it for cartographic purposes.^[18] IRS-P5 (CARTOSAT-1) was followed by a more advanced model named IRS-P6 developed also for agricultural applications.^[18] The CARTOSAT-2 project, equipped with single panchromatic camera that supported scene-specific on-spot images, succeeded the CARTOSAT-1 project.