India transfers ownership of SSLV rocket from space agency to government-owned private aerospace company
Capitalism in space: As part of the Modi government’s effort to switch its space industry from something owned and run entirely by its space agency ISRO, it has now awarded the ownership and control of ISRO’s newest and smallest rocket, the SSLV, to the aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The company paid about $60 million for the purchase, and the right to build, market and launch it. It hopes to build between 6 to 10 rockets per year, depending on launch demand.
This transfer is not as radical as it appears. Though HAL operates mostly as an independent aerospace company, it is still owned by the government with its board of directors appointed by the president of India. The rocket will thus still be owned and controlled by the government, not a private company.
At the same time, this deal acts to shift power away from the space agency ISRO, which I suspect is the plan: Divvy up ISRO’s assets, which will eventually make it harder for it to block independent operations by private companies. As part of that program, the government has also transferred construction of the larger PSLV rocket from ISRO to a consortium of companies.
Whether this shift can create an independent and competitive rocket industry in India is very unclear. In many ways the country’s strategy so far mimics more China’s pseudo-company approach (where the companies raise investment capital, compete for government and commercial contracts, but are always under the full control and supervision of the government) then it does America’s free enterprise system (where ownership and control resides entirely with the companies, and the government only buys the services it needs from them).
The American model is by far the most successful in encouraging innovation and competition for the least cost. The Chinese model produces some results for less cost, but relatively little innovation. Instead, it copies what Americans do.
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Capitalism in space: As part of the Modi government’s effort to switch its space industry from something owned and run entirely by its space agency ISRO, it has now awarded the ownership and control of ISRO’s newest and smallest rocket, the SSLV, to the aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The company paid about $60 million for the purchase, and the right to build, market and launch it. It hopes to build between 6 to 10 rockets per year, depending on launch demand.
This transfer is not as radical as it appears. Though HAL operates mostly as an independent aerospace company, it is still owned by the government with its board of directors appointed by the president of India. The rocket will thus still be owned and controlled by the government, not a private company.
At the same time, this deal acts to shift power away from the space agency ISRO, which I suspect is the plan: Divvy up ISRO’s assets, which will eventually make it harder for it to block independent operations by private companies. As part of that program, the government has also transferred construction of the larger PSLV rocket from ISRO to a consortium of companies.
Whether this shift can create an independent and competitive rocket industry in India is very unclear. In many ways the country’s strategy so far mimics more China’s pseudo-company approach (where the companies raise investment capital, compete for government and commercial contracts, but are always under the full control and supervision of the government) then it does America’s free enterprise system (where ownership and control resides entirely with the companies, and the government only buys the services it needs from them).
The American model is by far the most successful in encouraging innovation and competition for the least cost. The Chinese model produces some results for less cost, but relatively little innovation. Instead, it copies what Americans do.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Oh well. Baby steps are at least still steps. But a nation with a deeply-ingrained socialist history – a lovely parting gift courtesy of its former imperial master – and a still-formidable “Permit Wallah” Deep State bureaucracy is going to be quite some time achieving anything resembling even Western European levels of free market endeavor in any sector that has traditionally been seen as governmental. It’s a process, not an event.