Bangalore: HAL-L&T consortium bagged Rs 860 crore contract for end-to-end realisation of five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) over a period of four years from the NewsSpace India Limited (NSIL). The contract was exchanged today between HAL and NSIL during the inaugural session of the 7th Bangalore Space Expo 2022 (August) at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC).

Over the years, ISRO’s PSLV, has successfully performed more than 52 successful flights and the vehicle has since attained its operational status. ISRO formed a separate entity NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) with primary mandate of enabling Indian industries to scale up high-technology manufacturing and production base for meeting the needs of the Indian space program.

As part of its mandate NSIL had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) on August 16, 2019, for realization of five PSLV-XL Launch Vehicles by Indian industry. Based on competitive bidding HAL led consortium emerged as the successful bidder.

This will be the first time anybody other than ISRO in the country would be building the rocket — which first flew in September 1993 and has seen 57 missions since — although industries have been part of the programme as vendors even in the past.

As per the contract, which was signed in August 2022, the first of the five rockets were to be ready by August 2024. ISRO chairman S Somanath told TOI: “As per the contract, they were to supply the first PSLV in 24 months. But given the progress, we are now confident of it happening ahead of schedule and the first of the rockets may fly as early as in March 2024.”

CB Ananthakrishnan, CMD, HAL, which is the lead agency of the consortium, said while the order was for this was inked in August 2022, the defence PSU has associated with ISRO's PSLV program for more than two decades with structures it built having been used in multiple launches in the past.