ISRO Says It Wants to Develop Reusable Rocket for Carrying Heavy Payloads, Asks Industry to Collaborate

Dubbed as the Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), ISRO Chairman S Somanath said the space agency was working on the design of the rocket.

Advertisement
By Press Trust of India | Updated: 31 October 2022 13:07 IST
Highlights
  • ISRO Chairman S Somanath said ISRO was working on design of the rocket
  • India plans to have its own space station by 2035
  • ISRO plans to have the design of the NGLV ready within a year
ISRO Says It Wants to Develop Reusable Rocket for Carrying Heavy Payloads, Asks Industry to Collaborate

India's space economy was pegged at $9.6 billion (roughly Rs. 79,100 crore) in 2020

As India eyes setting up its own space station by 2035, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed to the industry to collaborate with it in developing a reusable rocket capable of carrying heavier payloads into orbit.

Dubbed as the Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), ISRO Chairman S Somanath said the space agency was working on the design of the rocket and would like the industry to collaborate with it in the development.

“The intent is to bring industry along in the development process. All the money need not be invested by us. We want the industry to invest to create this rocket for all of us,” Somanath told PTI here.

He said the rocket is planned to carry a 10 tonne payload in the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) or 20 tonnes to the low earth orbit.

Advertisement

Another ISRO official said the new rocket would be helpful as India plans to have its own space station by 2035 and was also eyeing deep space missions, human space flights, cargo missions and putting multiple communication satellites into orbit at the same time.

The NGLV is envisioned as a simple, robust machine designed for bulk manufacturing that will make space transportation more cost effective.

Advertisement

Somanath said the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), ISRO's warhorse rocket, was based on the technology developed in the 1980's and cannot be used to launch rockets in the future.

ISRO plans to have the design of the NGLV ready within a year and offer it to the industry for production, with the first launch tentatively scheduled for 2030.

Advertisement

The NGLV could be a three-stage rocket powered by green fuel combinations such as methane and liquid oxygen or kerosene and liquid oxygen.

According to a presentation made by Somanath at a conference earlier this month, the NGLV could offer launch costs of $1900 (roughly Rs. 1,56,600) per kg of payload in the reusable form and $3,000 (roughly Rs. 2,47,200) per kg in the expendable format.

India's space economy was pegged at $9.6 billion (roughly Rs. 79,100 crore) in 2020 and is expected to touch $12.8 billion (roughly Rs. 1,05,500 crore) by 2025, according to the ISpA-E&Y report titled 'Developing the Space Ecosystem in India: Focusing on Inclusive Growth'.

In dollar terms, the satellite services and applications segment would be the largest with a turnover of $4.6 billion (roughly Rs. 37,900 crore) by 2025, followed by ground segment at $4 billion (roughly Rs. 32,900 crore), satellite manufacturing at $3.2 billion (roughly Rs. 26,375 crore) and launch services at $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,242 crore).

India's share in the launch services segment was pegged at $600 million (roughly Rs. 4,945 crore) in 2020 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13 percent to reach $1 billion by 2025, the report said.


What are the best smartphones you can buy in India under Rs. 30,000? There are a handful of options that we've discussed on this week's episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Redmi Pad 2 With 11-Inch 2.5K Display, 9,000mAh Battery Launched in India
  2. iQOO Z10 Lite 5G With 6,000mAh Battery Launched in India: Price, Features
  3. Nothing Phone 3 to Be Equipped With the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC
  4. Vivo X200 FE Launch Date, Colours, and Design Revealed Ahead of Launch
  5. Amazfit Active 2 Square Debuts With 1.75-Inch AMOLED Display
  6. Apple Said to Launch Watch Ultra 3 and Watch Series 11 This Year
  7. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake Is "Deep" in Development, Says Ubisoft
  8. Infinix Note 50s 5G+ Gets a New RAM and Storage Option in India: See Price
  9. You Can Now Generate Video Clips on Canva With Google's Veo 3 Model
  10. Apple Back to School Offer Brings Discounts on iPad Air, Other Products
  1. Vivo T4 Ultra Now Available for Purchase in India: See Price, Offers, Specifications
  2. Infinix Note 50s 5G+ Now Available in a New 6GB RAM and 128GB Storage Variant in India
  3. Redmi K80 Ultra Design, Colours, and Key Features Revealed; to Get MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ SoC
  4. Xiaomi Mix Flip 2 Confirmed to Launch Later This Month With Leica-Branded Cameras
  5. Canva Adds Create a Video Clip Feature Powered by Google’s Veo 3 Video Generation AI Model
  6. GTA 6 Delay Weighs on Global Videogame Market Growth, Data Shows
  7. Coinbase Seeking US SEC Approval to Offer Blockchain-Based Stocks
  8. Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash AI Models Are Now Generally Available to All Users
  9. US Senate Passes Stablecoin Bill in Milestone for Crypto Industry
  10. Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to Recruit OpenAI Employees
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.