In 1992, the United States of America did its best to derail and delay India’s march into Space. And it succeeded. Joe Biden, the current US President and then (1992) Senator from Delaware, played a crucial role in denying India the cryogenic engine technology that powers our GSLV series of heavy-lift rockets.
India was rapidly improving in the Space Research Programme and in January 1991, ISRO entered into an agreement with the Russian Space Agency Glavkosmos for technology transfer of “cryogenic engine”, which powered heavy rockets with cheaper fuel cost.
India had already developed ballistic missile AGNI. The US was afraid this technology transfer would power up India and make it a super power in rocket and satellite launching programme.
“What we have achieved, in a sense, is unbelievable. When I say unbelievable, I mean with the kind of budget that we have, with the kind of other commitments that we have and after a failure (of Chandrayaan-2), which had put us into great difficulty. Every failure of Chandrayaan-2 was addressed to. In that way, they have clearly done a wonderful job” — Nambi Narayanan, Former ISRO scientist
In 1992, US’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee added conditions to a $24 billion aid deal to Russia. Joe Biden as committee member moved an amendment that banned US aid to any former Soviet republic that transferred missile, nuclear or chemical weapons technology abroad. Biden described the sale of cryogenic technology to India as “dangerous”. The committee voted to block the aid to Russia if it went ahead with the contract with India.
The US slapped sanctions on ISRO and Glavkosmos, alleging the arrangement was in violation of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Ironically enough, the US had offered the very same technology to India, though at a much higher cost. India had obviously gone for Russia’s lower cost offer.
Under US pressure, the then weakened Russia suspended the deal with India. In 1994, under a revised deal, Moscow agreed to transfer seven fully assembled KVD-1 engines but without the associated technology. In July 1993, India announced it would develop its own cryogenic engines. It is said the US spy agency CIA was entrusted with the job of aborting India’s cryogenic engine dream.
ISRO’s cryogenic team leader Nambi Narayanan had become a household name by then. So, he became the target. Narayanan and his deputy Sasi Kumaran were accused of spying, arrested and tortured by the Kerala police and the Intelligence Bureau. This imbroglio resulted in a setback to India’s Space Mission.
Later, the CBI found that Narayanan and Kumaran were not involved in any anti-national activity and they were acquitted.
ISRO successfully developed the cryogenic engine indigenously and started to launch GSLV rockets and put Indian and other countries’ satellites into orbit at a fraction of NASA’s cost, which is what the US had feared. India also sent a vehicle to Mars at one-fourth the cost and that too in its maiden attempt, compared to US’s several attempts.
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