SpaceX to launch Indian satellite
When Azista BST Aerospace booked its slot on the Falcon 9 rocket, the Indian space sector was undergoing change with the setting up of the regulator for the private players
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Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corporation's, commonly known as SpaceX, Falcon 9 rocket will fly Indian satellite startup Azista BST Aerospace Pvt Ltd's first satellite sometime this month, said top officials of the Indian company.
"The orbiting of our 80 kg satellite ABA First Runner (AFR), a remote sensing satellite, is expected to happen sometime during the middle of this month (June 2023)," Sunil Indurti, Director said.
Azista BST Aerospace is an Indo-German satellite manufacturing joint venture floated by India's Azista Industries Pvt Ltd (holding 70 per cent stake) and Berlin Space Technologies GmbH (holding 30 per cent stake). "Currently the company is funded by Azista Industries. We are not for venture capital funding. We have a long term outlook in business," Indurti added.
An engineering graduate from the famed College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai Indurti got into the space sector after founding and exiting an ice cream parlour chain in Hyderabad. "My ambition during the college days was to build a national brand," Indurti said.
Soon after exiting the ice cream venture, Indurti met Srinivas Reddy Male, Managing Director and a Director with pharma company Hetero and both decided to get into satellite manufacturing.
"We initially started as a vendor for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and set up a factory in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. We have also set up weather stations for DRDO and others," Indurti said.
Queried about the choice of SpaceX's rocket instead of India's own Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Indurti said, the US company had the slot for the satellite in its rocket.
Unlike SpaceX that flies several rockets in a year, ISRO's PSLV launches are very low.
