Finally,Antrix gets own CMD

In keeping with a decision taken in the aftermath of the controversy around allocation of S-band frequency waves to a private company earlier this year.

In keeping with a decision taken in the aftermath of the controversy around allocation of S-band frequency waves to a private company earlier this year,the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO on Saturday named a full-time chairman-cum-managing director for its commercial arm,Antrix Corporation.

As of now the board of Antrix a fully-government owned company which promotes and markets the products and services offered by ISRO used to be headed by the ISRO chairman himself. The ISRO chairman also holds the posts of Secretary,Department of Space,and chairman of the Space Commission.

The multiplicity of roles that the ISRO chairman plays within the space establishment had come under attack when allegations of wrongful allocation of S-band spectrum to Devas Multimedia,a Bangalore-based private company,were made earlier this year.

While ISRO had stoutly denied any wrongdoing,it did decide to make some structural changes within the establishment,including the implementation of a pending proposal of delinking the ISRO chairmans office with the head of Antrix board of governors.

With Antrix having achieved the status of a mini-ratna company,it had been decided some time back to elevate the post of managing director,the highest executive position till then,to chairman-cum-managing director.

A three-member selection committee had been tasked with the responsibility of finding a new chairman-cum-managing director for Antrix. Accordingly,ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan on Saturday announced the appointment of V S Hegde,currently a scientific secretary,to the newly created post.

Radhakrishnan said the move was part of the plan to enable Antrix to exploit the commercial opportunities in the space sector.

Story continues below this ad

The ISRO chairman,who will continue to remain on the Board of Antrix as a member,said a new coordination management committee,that would include senior directors at ISRO and CMD of Antrix,was also being constituted to maintain the connect between the two organisations.

This will enable the sharing of resources,allocation of resources,experts and setting of priorities for Antrix, Radhakrishnan said.

A statement from ISRO also announced the appointment of V Koteswara Rao as the new Scientific Secretary,in place of Hegde. Rao is currently the Director of Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems. He has in the past served as the Project Director of Astrosat satellite.

In another development,ISRO formally announced the July 15 launch schedule for its PSLV C-17 rocket carrying a rare and heavy payload in the form of a communication satellite the GSAT-12.

Story continues below this ad

The launch of the GSAT 12 will only be the second time that the PSLV is used for a communication satellite after the Kalpana-1 in 2002. Normally heavy weight communication satellites are launched on board the GSLV or through European space agencies.

The GSAT-12 is a satellite with a mass of 1410 kg. It has 12 extended C-band transponders. The life of the satellite will be about seven to eight years.