Space Industry Partnership

Over the past several years, the Indian space industry has made significant forays, notable amongst which are space based services in the fields of telecommunications and broadcasting and application of space technology in the areas of telemedicine and tele-education. The policies adopted by DOS have been instrumental in commercialising the space programme for national development. It is envisaged that this buoyant space market would provide opportunities for DOS to participate in the global market for spacecraft and related launch service technology. 

Association of more than  500 small, medium and large scale industries  with DOS which  has been a key feature of space industry partnership and this is a result of gradual  nurturing of the symbiotic relationship over the past years. Active co-operation in the form of procurement control, know-how transfers and provision of technical consultancy has enabled DOS to meet the increasing challenge of advanced technology and handling complex manufacturing jobs.

With the increasing demand in space products and services internationally, DOS is striving to build on partnership  between its commercial arm,  ANTRIX Corporation and the industries. So far, 279 technologies have been transferred to industries for commercialisation and 270 technical consultancies have been undertaken by DOS in various fields.

Technology Transfer
During the year, know-how for seven technologies were licensed to Indian industries for commercialisation, bringing the total to 279 technologies transferred to industries in small, medium and large scale sectors. The technologies span a wide spectrum ranging from electro-mechanical, chemical and optics, hardware to specialised software and find applications for industrial and societal purposes including several spin- offs. The technologies transferred during the year include: high temperature resin, manufacturing various types of vibration isolators and adhesive systems for use as sealants and potting compounds, Vinyl Terminated Poly Dimethyl Siloxane (VT-PDMS), Bismaleimide resin (BIM-1000), Thermal Pads and Acramid (a dental composite).

Productionisation of breach system pyro devices has been taken up. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development and scale up of polyimide foam was signed during the year. MOU for silica tiles processing facility was finalised. OLFEX, the fire extinguishing powder is being widely used by the petroleum and gas industry. PARAS software is well accepted as a powerful simulation tool in aerospace industry. Slip-ring components were supplied to the licensee as handholding during the technology adaptation phase. An MOU was entered into for development of satellite based internet protocol interactive system. A technical presentation on sparse area communication system was organised for the benefit of prospective licensees. The educational version of FEAST software was provided to engineering student community in colleges.

Indigenous development of Automatic Weather Station (AWS) with sensors for pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, radiation and rainfall is progressing well. Over 100 AWS have been installed so far with the objective of maximising use of satellite data in projects
related to atmospheric sciences and leading to operational applications and generation of products and services. AWS data is being used for various user applications for ISRO Geosphere Biosphere Programme, Disaster Management Support, PRWONAM, Radar calibration, etc.

Several new technologies were identified as potential candidates for transfer. Among them are: device for inspection of flat honeycomb sandwich panels, remote operated fastening system, vacuum bagging, pollution tester, holography testing apparatus, Satellite based Internet Protocol Interactive System, Sparse Area Communication System, PC Add-on Software for Interactive Distance Education System, Burst Modulator for Hub station, Automatic abrading machine, etc.

Patents and Copyrights
Changes in the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) regime in the international scenario have impact on the Indian space programme. Against this backdrop of international scenario, DOS has taken steps to safeguard the innovations across its various centres and to initiate relevant measures to increase patent productivity amongst its scientists and engineers. With emphasis being given towards patent literacy amongst DOS scientific community, there is an increase in the patent registrations across DOS centres. Workshops, training programmes, tutorials and lectures have been organised during the year. Concerted efforts are being made for monitoring patent applications and patent alerts are being circulated amongst DOS centres. Initiatives are undertaken for identifying and processing various technologies developed in-house for their intellectual property registration. Thrust is being accorded to commercial licensing of IPRs through appropriate licensing agreements.

The patent portfolio now consists of 190 patents, 10 trademarks and 21 copyrights. Twenty patent applications have been filed during the year, in coatings technology, opto-mechanical, electronics, etc. Significant among the national patents granted during the year include those related to synthetic aperture radar signal for extended azimuth coverage and anodising of aluminium alloys with impurities of iron bearing intermetalics. Patent applications related to silica composite, wind profile studies and mechatronic test rigs, etc, are being processed. Besides patent filings, DOS scientists are being urged to obtain appropriate copyright protection for the software developed and being utilised for various applications. During the year, one copyright application was registered and four applications were filed.

Market Survey and System Studies
Summer assignments are undertaken as an initiative to gather market information on technologies/products developed by DOS. Preliminary market studies, study projects and short term assignments pertaining to various technologies and areas of interest to DOS have continued. During the year, eleven new summer assignments were taken up. Market survey of ceramic substrate and Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) systems were carried out. Studies related to cost-benefit analysis, costing methodology and strategy for international marketing were also conducted.

Technology Consultancy
DOS continues to provide technical consultancy to industries and institutions in diverse areas of its expertise. So far, more than 270 consultancy assignments have been undertaken benefiting a number of industries in the small, medium and large scale sectors. DOS expertise in niche areas such as DWR has been utilised by industries. Assignments involving the use of remote sensing applications for the preparation of survey of land for wind farms, land use/land cover change detection studies, etc, were undertaken during the year. Consultancy and training programmes on high reliability microwave integrated circuits assembly and quality control for fabricators and inspectors were conducted during the year. In order to extend DOS facilities for external requirements, several assignments on testing and qualification of hardware and subsystems from aerospace and R and D institutions and other industries were supported, using special test facilities of DOS like vibration, thermo-vacuum and compact antenna test facility. Consultancy support was also extended to public sector undertakings in specialised areas such as failure analysis.

Technology Utilisation/Vendor Development
In line with DOS policy of striving for a close partnership with the Indian industries, the level of industry involvement has been steadily increasing over the years, especially in important projects like INSAT, GSAT, RISAT, SRE and CARTOSAT-2. New industries are being identified for taking up work related to ground as well space segments. DOS industry policy continues to be driven by the need to encourage greater participation by industries, thereby allowing itself to concentrate on core areas of research and development. In the spacecraft segment, efforts continue to be devoted towards maximising industry participation to realise cost effective and reliable spacecraft hardware elements. Some of the major spacecraft elements that are being realised through qualified vendors include solar panel and batteries, pulsating heat pipes for thermal control and radiation coolers for meteorological imaging instruments. Thermal analysis of spacecraft is being outsourced to industries. Some of the spacecraft hardware such as optical solar reflectors, spacecraft mechanism elements for solar panel hinge assemblies, precision components for array deployment, solar array wing deployment mechanism sub-assemblies, bonded film lubrication for spacecraft mechanism components and development of cryo-refrigerator for cooling thermal infrared detectors are the significant areas where industries are associated. Facilities have been established at an aerospace industry for electroless nickel plating and electroplating of nickel for large size panels.

Industry contribution continues in spacecraft power systems and assembly and integration of spacecraft. Batteries for INSAT programme and solar panels with multi junction solar cells are being produced by industry. They are also involved in the development of electro-optical payloads. Development of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) components for sat-com antennas and feeds has been taken up by a few industries.

In the electronics area, a number of flight hardware packages are being fabricated through industries. Good progress was made on realisation and supplies of space-quality multilayer PCBs, electronic power conditioner units for TWTA, high power connectors, S-band switch matrix, Ku-band receivers and C-band driver amplifiers. Vendors have been qualified for work on assembly line and workmanship for PCB assembly with Surface Mount Devices (SMD) and through-hole components. Fabrication of a variety communication systems such as transponders, Transmit Receive Module (TRM), Power Conditioning and Processing Unit (PCPU), Double sided PCBs, Transmitters, TMTC hardware, DC-DC Converters, Indigenous crystal oscillators, Hybrid Micro circuits, etc are being carried out in industry. Development of miniaturised electronics in the form of multilayer boards, hybrid microcircuits and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) are also undertaken in industry. Vendor development activities were carried out in a number of areas pertaining to specialised coatings on PCBs, assembly and fabrication of electronic packages, package level audit, composite components and bonded film lubrication of spacecraft components.

In the liquid propulsion area, the magnitude of industry contributions has grown in tune with the needs of operational flights of both PSLV and GSLV. Liquid stage control system modules have been contracted to industries for regular production and supply. Liquid stage engines continue to be realised through industry. Industry has also been identified for the fabrication of control thruster valves for spacecraft.

Export Promotion
Antrix Corporation of DOS is marketing space products and services in the global market. Marketing efforts has resulted in sufficient inroads being made in the international market for Indian remote sensing satellite data and services area. Twenty four stations including USA (10) and Russia (4), across the globe now receive IRS data. In addition to RESOURCESAT-1 and CARTOSAT-1 and the latest satellite, CARTOSAT-2, have further enhanced the scope and continuity of Indian earth observation satellite data services. The world archive of satellite data is being created through the archive station at Svalbard, Norway, which has been used as a virtual ground station for processing of CARTOSAT-1 data. A number of resellers have been appointed for data sale to countries including Canada, Greece and Turkey.

RESOURCESAT-1 data has been supplied to US Department of Agriculture for global crop acreage programme. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has cleared Antrix participation in the Eagle Eye programme.

Significant progress has been achieved in the marketing of transponder capacity of INSATs for applications encompassing TV broadcasting, VSAT, DSNG applications, etc. New services such as DTH are attracting Indian service providers. The Solar Sail and boom mechanism supplied to a Japanese satellite programme has successfully functioned. The teaming agreement entered into with EADS Astrium for joint manufacture of I-2000 and I-3000 based satellite platforms for the telecommunications market has fructified into two commercial satellite contracts, W2M for Eutelsat and Highly Adaptable Satellite (HYLAS) for a European customer. Mission support services were provided to satellites belonging to World Space and World Sat of USA. Launch and Early Orbit Operations (LEOP) support was also provided. Along with CARTOSAT-2, LAPAN-TUBSAT from Indonesia and PEHUENSAT-1 from Argentina were also launched under commercial agreements. AGILE spacecraft from Italy is slated for launch by PSLV in 2007. Another launch service agreement has been entered into with University of Toronto for launch of a cluster of six nano satellites as piggyback payloads.
In recognition of its outstanding export performance, Antrix Corporation was awarded “Star Performer – small enterprises” for the year 2004-2005 by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), Southern Region.