srin wrote:^^^ I'm not aware of that. Which components rely on foreign suppliers ?
Pretty much all types of components and facilities.
For example: Little micro-valves that supply tiny amounts of propellant to thrusters (think pencil battery size). These cost a cool Rs. 1 Lakh each and are imported from Lee Valves company in UK.
Tracking space antennas. Most motors and drives are by foreign suppliers like Allen Bradley
Nearly all the manufacturing machinery like 5 axis mills, EDM, waterjet, cutting, filament winding, etc. etc. are imported mostly from US,UK,Germany,Japan some even from Russia.
Ditto for all the testing and inspection equipment think CMMs, C-scan ultrasonic testing, etc. etc.
Solar cells that power all the satellites. All are imported still to my knowledge.
Atomic clocks that ensure the accuracy of IRNSS signals. Made by a company in Switzerland. Chinese (Beidou ) satellites use their own made clocks.
Materials: Composite materials are still being imported. We did not have the capability to manufacture Titanium alloys until a few years ago. Making of Beryllium Copper is mentioned in APJ Kalam's autobiography as to how they managed to indigenize it.
Actuators: Moog actuators were famously banned by the US after the 1998 Pokhran blasts and we were able to indigenize some of them. But after the sanctions were lifted we resumed our importing habits.
Cameras, lasers, microprocessors etc.: None of these are made in India.
Entire satellites: Yes, ISRO used to buy entire satellites from France or US. The arms embargo will now put an end to that.
And finally softwares. ISRO is a big importer of foreign softwares. Despite our so called successful IT industry, all we do is supply labor to the global IT/software industry. Very little progress in this area over the years.
ISRO is very secretive organization and I don't know if they have ever released a figure of how much indigenous they are. The 50% is my guess estimate based on years of interacting with them. It could even be as low as 30% indigenous.
nachiket wrote:
Statements like these require more detail and context. Other wise they are meaningless. What are you talking about? The launch vehicles? Subcomponents? Materials? The satellites themselves? And which of these aspects which the ISRO has failed to indigenize is the emerging private industry supposed to take care of?
I hope I've answered your question. But I would not characterize it as ISRO's 'failure to indigenize'. Rather it is a simple acknowledgement of the fact that we live in a technologically backward 3rd world country. Remember that NASA/ESA/etc. are built on the richest and most technologically advanced countries of the world.
Things are moving in the right direction. For example, until a decade ago, all the silicone wire ( high quality wire that is used for all the wiring inside the launch vehicles ) used to be imported. Now it is being supplied by an Indian company. So the indigenization is increasing. As an entrepreneur in this sector, I hope to have a small bit to contribute here
Remember that we are talking about a gigantic industry consisting of lakhs and lakhs (literally ) of all types of components, facilities and subsystems. So it will take time.