India looks to private players to boost space economy fivefold

**New technologies, private investment, and startups are key to New Delhi’s plan to expand its space industry to $44 billion by 2033 **

India is building additional launch pads, deploying new technologies, and boosting private players and startups in an ambitious program to grow its space industry fivefold to $44 billion by 2033.

New Delhi introduced reforms to its space industry – where the publicly-owned Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was the sole player – to promote private sector participation in 2020.

“Earlier, only ISRO could do end-to-end activities, while other companies were working as vendors to ISRO,” Vinod Kumar, director at the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), told ANI recently. IN-SPACe is the regulatory and promotional agency for non-government entities in India’s space sector.

India’s space ecosystem has expanded rapidly since, with 50 large firms, 450 space startups, and 300 small and micro-medium enterprises currently active in the $8.4 billion market.

The growth comes even as the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) program, launched in 2023 with an outlay of $1 billion, is expected to triple India’s launch pad capacity. This additional launch capacity is critical for realizing missions including manned flights to the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and lunar exploration, as well as meeting launch demands from domestic industries.

“We have SSLV, and we have augmented launch capacity with a new launch pad at Kulasekarapattinam in (the southern state of) Tamil Nadu,” Kumar said. The SSLV is a launch vehicle for small satellites, crucial to meeting the rising demand from low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations for internet connectivity and earth observation satellites.

“That business will (now) stay in India,” Kumar was reported as saying. Two Indian companies – billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Satellite Communications, and Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb – have sought licenses for providing satellite internet services in the country, alongside Elon Musk’s Starlink.

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The federal government also wants the private players to expand their role in technological development, satellite manufacturing, and space-based applications.

NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO, has signed 118 technology transfer agreements to enable the domestic industry to access and utilize technologies that its parent has developed. A rejigging of the space policy in 2023 and changes to foreign direct investment norms have also contributed to growth in the sector.

India launched a $102 million venture capital fund and $52 million technology adoption fund for space startups. The cumulative funding in Indian space start-ups touched $618.5 million as of March 31. The funding pattern has also shifted from early-stage seed support to larger, growth-stage rounds, according to the government factsheet.