December 2014
India joins the major league with the Mars Orbiter Mission
... can carry only two-tonne class communication satellites. Those with a higher mass have to be launched by Arianespace’s Ariane-5 rocket from the European spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana. Thereafter, there are any number of missions relating...
March 2015
Sizing down and reaching higher with CubeSats
... of space was dependent on monster rockets and huge satellites. Think of the American Saturn or Atlas, the French Ariane and the Russian N1 and Proton vehicles. In that sense, the space industry reflected the times. These...
March 2015
Small is the new big: why micro-satellites require new laws
... to break the $1,000 per pound launch cost barrier; in comparison to around $5,000 per pound of payload for an Ariane 5. ‘Instead of failure can’t be an option, fail fast and often’ Another example is the US-based air-launch company...
March 2015
ARTES and the world of satcoms
... of the value of all satellites launched (67% in 2012). Also, they represent the bulk of the commercial launches: 87% of Ariane launches in the last three years were satcoms. Satcoms represent a major commercial investment. The cumulated CAPEX of ...
February 2017
Growing space agency dilemma
... attention of the man or woman in the street. These accomplishments and rocket systems such as Proton, Soyuz, the H-2, Ariane 5 or the Space Shuttle have helped the public embrace the wonder and vision of space. This article...
May 2017
India confirms commercial launch intent
... costs Rs 381 crores; other rockets-a Russian Proton Rs 455 crores; Japan’s H-11A, Chinese Long March, Arianespace Ariane-5 and the American Atlas 5 each cost Rs 6,692 crores. Against these a launch by ISRO’s PSLV is estimated to be around...
