US should reassess its restriction on India's satellite launch vehicle

With the recent launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed into orbit 17 US commercial small satellites, one of them belonging to Google. Later this year, it will launch another two. Given the low-cost launch requirements of US small satellite companies, the absence of a relevant launch vehicle in the domestic market and the overall political relations between the US and India, it is imperative for the former to reassess its restriction on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The small satellite industry relies on the Cubesat standard and develops satellites using commercial-off-the-shelf components. To keep the low cost strategy intact, this industry requires low-cost launch vehicles to deploy them in orbit. More

(Source: Daily News & Analysis - Jul 4)