MUMBAI: India has come a long way since launch of its first satellite Aryabhata with help from the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on April 19, 1975. But only in the last few years has the government and the Indian Space Research Organisation focused on creating a comprehensive ecosystem which facilitates the development of the space industry in the country with the private sector playing a leading role. In April, the Union Cabinet approved the ‘Space Policy’, which comes after the formation of Indian National Space Promotion & Authorisation Centre or IN-SPACe in 2020 and NewSpace India Ltd or NSIL in 2019.

The two bodies, along ISRO and Department of Space, will play a pivotal role and their role and responsibilities have been defined. The mandate of IN-SPACe will be to promote, hand-hold, guide and authorize space activities in the country, while NewSpace India Ltd, as a public sector unit, will be responsible for commercialising space technologies, manufacture, lease, or procure space components, technologies, platforms and other assets from private or public sector on sound commercial principles and serve both government and private sector. The new age start-ups have received the Space Policy with much optimism.

“With the Indian Space Policy 2023, the Indian government has taken a step in the right direction for creating a conducive environment for private space actors. At the outset, it signifies the growing interest of the Indian government towards private sector participation in the space industry as well as developing indigenous capabilities in critical domains, such as Space Situational Awareness,” said Anirudh Sharma, Chief Executive Officer at Digantara, a start-up which specialises in space weather and debris-tracking.

“By defining the roles and responsibilities of the relevant authorities, the Space Policy attempts to avoid any foreseeable regulatory overlap, which may otherwise hinder the progress of the Indian space ecosystem,” Sharma added.

Space Infrastructure

A major aspect of the policy is that the government will now promote greater private sector participation in the entire value chain of the space economy, including in the creation of space and ground based assets.

The policy has opened opportunities for the non-government entities and private sector to establish and operate launch infrastructure under the broad guidelines and regulations as prescribed by IN-SPACe.“The Startups of the future cannot depend on infrastructure of the past. As end-to-end space activities are being enabled, the sector will see emergence of many players in niche areas,” said Apurwa Masook, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, SpaceFields, a startup which focuses on building dual-use rocket propulsion systems for commercial spaceflight and national security.

The construction and development of such infrastructure has been the exclusive domain of ISRO, whose new role will be to focus primarily on research and development of new space technologies and applications.

“Since its inception, IN-SPACe has been actively guiding the private sector on a case-by-case basis right from manoeuvring the regulatory environment in India to providing authorisations,” said Sharma.

As per the policy, IN-SPACe will ensure equitable access for non-government entities to infrastructure and also facilitate the transfer of such technologies developed by ISRO

“The true scale of India’s space sector capabilities can be achieved only when reverse phenomenon propagates, i.e. when critical technologies developed by the private sector will be absorbed for use in ISRO missions or by other agencies. This would be possible when the private sector heavily invests in R&D (research & development) and spearheads the co-development of such futuristic technologies,” said Masook.

Sound Commercial Principles

Both Sharma and Masook outlined that success of the policy will depend on ‘sound commercial principles’ wherein the interests of the private sector is secured.

“....the relationship between the private sector, on one hand, and NSIL (being the commercial arm for ISRO and under administrative control of DoS) on the other, must truly be formed on the basis of ‘sound commercial principles'’ (as indicated in the policy) that do not compromise the interests of the private sector,” said Sharma.

While ISRO has been undertaking commercial launches for foreign clients in recent years, India is still to capture a dominant market share position in the global space market, with current market share at 2-3%.

“ Of the total 180 successful orbital launches globally in 2022, Over 75 were from the US (from 6 launch sites) and Over 60 from China (from 6 launch sites). India only had 4 (from one launch site Sriharikota). This indicates a significant room for growth and overall business potential in the sector,” said Masook.

The technology developed under NASA’s Apollo Programme created spill over into civilian space, some examples of which include solar panels, retractable roof at stadiums, fabric structures, programmable pacemaker, cordless technology, among others. India’s Space Policy seeks to augment the nation’s socio-economic development and a clear roadmap for government and non-government entities is a welcome step.