
ISRO to launch Google satellite - unmole
http://www.asianage.com/india/isro-launch-google-satellite-300
======
_nedR
This is a great example of how investing in space can have returns for India.
You often find comments in such articles saying that India should be focusing
on poverty alleviation, healthcare, and infrastructure instead of investing in
a space program. The problem with this strategy is that India (and developing
countries in general) will always be playing catch-up to other countries; And
without finding new sources of wealth, India will be hard pressed to obtain
the necessary resources to uplift itself from poverty. Another thing these
commenters fail to point out is that most of the countries that are rich today
got where they are not by funding massive welfare programs, but by expanding
into new frontiers in search of wealth.

So the strategy today's developing countries should be following is to find
new frontiers in science, technology, entrepreneurship to create wealth while
in parallel trying to provide basic facilities to their people. Developing
countries are in some ways like startups- Perpetually strapped for cash and
resources, struggling to stay afloat and facing tough odds. The key for them
is not to try to compete in areas where others already dominate, but to
disrupt them (by trying drastically different approaches) or to seek new
fields. Microsoft didn't try to compete with IBM in mainframes, they went for
the then-burgeoning PC market. Apple is the world largest corporation not
because it competes head-on with Microsoft in the PC market, but because it
disrupted mobile. Similarly, space is a good avenue for India to compete in,
where there are few incumbents and where India can exploit its natural
advantages (such as it's eye for cost-saving and huge, inexpensive talent
pool).

Updated: Edited to removed lines that detract from main point.

~~~
hackbinary
I'm in favour of space and scientific exploration as the next guy, but it is
incorrect to equate basic sanitation and education with a welfare state. It
seems pretty obvious to me that providing everyone with clean water and
sanitation will have far greater economic (and social) impact than giving a
very small number people access to very advanced technology.

India has some of the worst sanitation conditions in the world. You and I take
clean drinking water and sewage treatment for granted.

There is a pretty strong case that educating women, giving women control of
their reproductive systems, and giving women good hygiene, sanitation, and
toilet facilities is the best possible way to lift populations out of poverty.

[http://www.iamin.in/en/mumbai-north/news/mumbai-ranks-
second...](http://www.iamin.in/en/mumbai-north/news/mumbai-ranks-second-worst-
sanitation-conditions-claims-new-survey-46547)

[http://www.globalpartnership.org/education](http://www.globalpartnership.org/education)

[http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/half-the-sky/economic-
emp...](http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/half-the-sky/economic-empowerment/)

[http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/09/3138901/rubio-
ma...](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/09/3138901/rubio-marriage-
poverty/)

[http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/our-policy-
focus/](http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/our-policy-focus/)

[http://www.unwater.org/worldtoiletday](http://www.unwater.org/worldtoiletday)

[http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what-we-do/the-
crisis/women](http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what-we-do/the-crisis/women)

~~~
_nedR
I am not saying that India should take all its money from education and
sanitation and put it in rockets and r&d. I am not speaking against welfare
programs either. I am saying that the whole attitude that "India shouldnt have
a space program until everyone has toilets" is self-defeating and means that
India will never have a space program, and probably never have enough toilets
either.

The core of my point is that a small percentage of the budget should be kept
aside for r&d in science and technology (and also to encourage
entrepreneurship) because the returns from such endeavours can be tremendous.
If you put x dollars to buy a toilet you will only ever get 1 toilet but if
you invest x dollars wisely you could in time pay for a hundred toilets.

~~~
Tarang
I think it depends a bit on the ideology the government wants to follow in
which one to prioritise.

I assume one favours lifting people out of poverty through opportunity of
economic opportunity (subsidising R&D at the expense of other industry). The
other is to lift people out of people through welfare (subsidising sanitation
through the expense of other industry).

The latter would definitely help in the more immediate term but wouldn't be
sustainable. It's a hard pill to swallow but prioritising a better economic
climate may be better in the longer term.

There is also another way to look at it where the improvement in sanitation
can improve living standards, thereby improving the economy through a
different root of the problem. I think the government is taking an approach
that uses less welfare.

I would favour the space plan since the ISRO currently has a very high launch
success rate and an incomparable cost. For India and the world as a whole it
is more optimal to promote its development. The material/'hard cash' export
value of launching satellites can help more in the longer term to subsidising
sanitation than approaching it directly and sooner.

------
kartikkumar
Antrix has done a great job of marketing secondary payload opportunities. Many
university-satellites have been launched by PSLV; they've become the de-facto
small-satellite launch provider in a lot respects. My alma mater has launched
a couple of satellites successfully [1], with the first one, Delfi-C3,
launched from Sriharikota in 2008 (still operational!).

Europe has been trying to push Vega [1] as the European offering in this
market. It's exciting to see how the launcher space is developing, especially
for small payloads. I know a few startups that are targeting this space
because of studies, like undertaken by SpaceWorks [1][2], that point at the
expected explosion within the coming 5 years.

Given that I'm working on space debris risk mitigation at the moment, I'm
looking at this from a somewhat different perspective. Most small-satellites
to date have been launched to low enough orbits that they can meet the 25-year
de-orbit guideline without too many issues. With the commercial market rapidly
expanding though, there are a lot of applications that require higher orbits,
and that's when space debris becomes a huge issue. Keeps me in a job!

All in all, great news for ISRO, and hopefully a sign of more international
collaboration and commercial expansion in the years to come.

[1] [http://www.delfispace.nl](http://www.delfispace.nl)

[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega_%28rocket%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega_%28rocket%29)

[3]
[http://www.sei.aero/eng/papers/uploads/archive/IAC-14.E6.1.3...](http://www.sei.aero/eng/papers/uploads/archive/IAC-14.E6.1.3.pdf)
(PDF)

[4]
[http://www.sei.aero/eng/papers/uploads/archive/SSC14-I-3_v1....](http://www.sei.aero/eng/papers/uploads/archive/SSC14-I-3_v1.0.pdf)
(PDF)

------
vardhanw
There are some good developments giving an international exposure to Indian
space research. Another commendable achievement is the Team Indus winning a $1
million prize money [1] as a part of Google's Lunar X-prize, for achieving
significant milestones. They are mostly a team of fresh IITians mentored by a
few senior guys [2] - entrepreneurs, enthusiasts and technology and industry
veterans who started this. This was the only team from India participating in
the X-prize, and is one of the 5 teams internationally to be selected for the
first round of funding, from amongst other well funded entities. Incidentally
my company Sasken [3] has provided the team with space in our Bangalore office
for their operations and it is indeed exciting to see them succeed.

[1] [http://yourstory.com/2015/01/team-indus-from-india-wins-
goog...](http://yourstory.com/2015/01/team-indus-from-india-wins-google-lunar-
xprize/) [2] [http://www.teamindus.in/about-
us/](http://www.teamindus.in/about-us/) [3]
[http://www.sasken.com](http://www.sasken.com)

------
ardahal
A couple of months ago, I met a brilliant scientist[1][2] who runs a space
startup in India that specializes in brokering deals to launch non Indian
space payload on ISRO's launch vehicles. Her company is called Earth2Orbit[3],
although I am not sure whether this deal was brokered by them.

[1] [http://travel.cnn.com/mumbai/susmita-mohanty-indias-own-
moon...](http://travel.cnn.com/mumbai/susmita-mohanty-indias-own-
moonwalker-142324)

[2]
[http://www.earth2orbit.com/people/people.html](http://www.earth2orbit.com/people/people.html)

[3]
[http://www.earth2orbit.com/index.html](http://www.earth2orbit.com/index.html)

------
paulsutter
Skybox can sell live satellite video, I saw a demo last week that was pretty
dramatic. They are currently very limited by having one satellite.

Suddenly I realize the importance of the Google investment in SpaceX to launch
700 internet service satellites. Surely those could include cameras. Will we
get realtime Google Earth?

~~~
rufustherag
Ah yes, Google, working hard to make '1984' a reality for the purpose of
profits and advertising.

~~~
chheplo
It is still cheaper compared to 1984 standards.

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sudhirj
Now we're talkin. If ISRO pulls this off the space industry will be officially
Bangalored.

------
jpalomaki
Crowdfunded military intelligence in near future? People interested in what's
happening on some specific place putting their money to pool and purchasing
live video feed from the region?

------
binoyxj
Big validation in the age of space madness. Keep them coming team ISRO.

------
panini_tech
Time for the outer space research to get big at Isro bAngalore,India

------
jcoffland
Did someone say Skynet?

------
known
Is it INSURED?

~~~
piyushpr134
I am sure it is insured.

However, PSLV, ISRO's rocket has the best success record in the world. It has
launched 71 satellites so far. 40 of these where of non Indian so this is not
the first time ISRO is launching a non Indian satellite. It took Chandrayaan
to moon and Mangalyaan to mars. I am sure Google's satellite is in safe hands
here.

~~~
disputin
Looking up "yaan" \- Hindi for vehicle.

~~~
balladeer
Yes, it's like a generic word for this purpose. An instrument/machine that
moves, or takes you or stuff from one point to another.

You can put it like "chandra" (moon) + "yaan" and it becomes "a vehicle that
goes to the moon; or is built for a purpose related to moon"; or "vaayu" (air)
+ "yaan" and it becomes an air-plane. "jal" (water) + "yaan" and it's a ship.

In our trains there are "shayan" (sleeping) + "yaan" \- here it means "coach",
i.e. sleeper coaches as opposed to those sitting coaches.

