ISRO’s 119 earth observation satellite- Rs.40,000-70,000 crore opportunity

Chennai, Aug 29,2025: A business opportunity valued between Rs.40,000 and Rs.70,000 for the Indian space sector over the next 15 years was put out in the open by a senior official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at the recently held National Meet 2.0.
Speaking at the conference, Nilesh M Desai, Director, ISRO’s Space Applications Centre said India plans to orbit 103 earth observation and 19 technology demonstration satellites over the next 15 years or by 2040.
Desai also said plans to launch about 160 communication satellites including a constellation of 140 satellites in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) to provide broadband connectivity like Starlink, OneWeb and others.
Desai said the 20 communication satellites will be placed in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and will be made through ISRO/ NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and private players.
According to Desai, the earth observation satellites will also be realised by ISRO and private players.
The distribution of earth observation satellites based on weight will be as follows: one satellite weighing less than 100kg; 9 satellites ranging between 100-200 kg; 66 satellites – 200-500 kg; 38 satellites-500-1,000 kg and 5 satellites- over 1,000 kg.
“For the list above, the total business value should be around Rs.40,000-50,000 crore. Considering the present value it should escalate with time at least by five percent,” Dr.S.Somanath, former Chairman, ISRO told this writer.
“India is on steroids. We see unprecedented growth. We are at a tipping point. One can expect approximately 100 launches in the coming 5-6 years. Depending on the payload it will be a combination of launch vehicles being used,” reacted Jagat S Parikh, President, Strategy & Growth, Walchandnagar Industries Ltd to this writer.
The company is into heavy engineering catering to India’s strategic sectors like defence, nuclear, aerospace and several other industrial products.
When queried as to what the 119 earth observation satellites would translate into value satellite, rockets and ground equipment- industry experts gave varied estimates.
Even the lower estimate is lucrative enough for the sector as a whole to salivate.
”The blended cost per satellite will be about Rs.300 crore. So the 119 earth observation satellite business value will be about Rs.35,700 crore. As regards the rockets, the average cost per vehicle will be about Rs.350 crore. A total of 90 rockets will be needed, assuming 60 rockets with a single satellite and 30 rockets with two satellites. So the total business value of satellites plus rockets will be about Rs.71,700 crore,” Tapan Misra, Founder Sisir Radar and former Director of Space Applications Centre, ISRO told this writer.
It should be noted that the opportunity is not only for satellite manufacturers but also for the makers of rockets and ground equipment.
According to Misra, the planned 160 communication satellites will also cost at an average Rs.300 crore per satellite which will work out to Rs.48,000 crore. The rocket cost will also average to Rs.350 crore per vehicle as the orbit will be a mix of GEO/MEO/LEO.
On the other hand, space sector consultant Mukund K Rao’s estimate matches that of Somanath.
A former Deputy Director (Technology and Systems) at ISRO Rao told this writer that to put into orbit the 119 earth observation satellites, one may need about 50 rockets-a ballpark figure- as many satellites could get launched as piggyback or as a cluster.
“So we are talking of almost 170 space systems (satellites and rockets) in 15 years,” Rao said.
Stating ISRO must have worked out the cost model for the 119 earth observation satellites, Rao said the maximum weight of the total satellites as mentioned in Desai’s presentation-may be about 80,000 kg or could be lesser too.
“Globally the best launch cost today is less than USD 3,000/kg or maybe we can look at USD 5,000-6,000/kg in future. Indian launch systems can be very competitive in costs. This could mean, at a ballpark, a cost of around Rs.3,000-4000 crore for launching these 80,000 kg/ 119 satellites if our launch systems can be at comparable world costs and tremendous innovations built in to scale. Over 15 years it may average at Rs. 300 crore per year,” Rao remarked.
As regards the satellite cost, Rao said the recent Resourcesat cost was around Rs.100 crore.
“A global high class, high resolution PAN (panchromatic imaging) satellite in the US would cost about 100 million USD (about Rs.850 crore),” Rao said.
Stating that Indian costs have been proven to be much competitive based on the past earth observation missions, the cost of the proposed 119 satellites which are of varying weight and imaging capability class Rao guesses it is all about Rs.20,000-30,000 crore over 15 years at an average of Rs.2,000 crore per year.
There would be additional costs of ground systems, operations, insurance (if at all), applications/user segment development, business and marketing and others- mostly one time costs- and it would be about Rs.2,000-5,000 crore over 15 years, Rao added.
“We are talking of about Rs.40,000-50,000 crore over 15 years for this Plan that has been presented in the National Space meet. Not a great deal for India today,” Rao said.