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The only other affordable choice could have been ISRO with PSLV , there was some merits to this as oneweb is owned partly by Bharti an Indian telecom major. Ho
by manquer 5y ago
The only other affordable choice could have been ISRO with PSLV , there was some merits to this as oneweb is owned partly by Bharti an Indian telecom major.
However that was always a long shot, Russia collaborates deeply on the Indian space and missile programs. The cryogenic 4th stage is still a Russian engine on GSLV, ISRO won’t likely risk that partnership as America has always refused any tech because of dual concerns, and ISRO also is not very expandable on launch capacity so it would not be easy even if they wanted to.
- thinkcontext 5y agoThey might have been able to get a launch or 2 out of ISRO but they don't have the capacity to build rockets that fast.
- panick21_ 5y agoLooking at the launch rates of Indian rockets, its pretty easy to realize that they have no way to simply launch more. They build rockets for specific project and have very low launch rates. They can't simply build 6 extra rockets in a few years.
- manquer 5y agoI agree they cannot expand that much that fast, which was my second point. They wouldn't be very keen either way, as ISRO's primary objective is their research missions while there is some drive to have commercial operations it is not that important to them. However it was also possible that Bharti (and U.K. government ) could have pulled enough strings to get ISRO to agree, so won't have been that surprised if they had partnered.