India’s share less than 2% of global space economy, private sector can drive growth: Experts

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Chennai: The top officials of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and others from the space sector have said that the PSLV rocket will soon be made in an end-to-end manner by the Indian industry and that other Indian rockets will also follow the same path.

However, a stark revelation was that how India’s share of the $447bn space global economy is only around 2 percent. With India having brought in reforms in the space sector in 2020, the contribution and participation of the private sector are expected to increase, noted the experts.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the ‘Building NewSpace in India’ International Space Conference and Exhibition, Dr D Radhakrishnan, CMD, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), pointed out how the government-owned organsiation would take up space missions on a demand model, as opposed to the earlier supply model. He added that the commercial viability of the every mission would be established beforehand.

In a major boost for the Indian private sector, he said that India’s workhorse rocket, the PSLV would be made end-to-end by the Indian industry and that other rockets also were to be fabricated fully by the industry.

R Umamaheshwaran, Scientific Secretary, ISRO and In-charge of IN-Space Activities said that despite the pandemic, 2020 was a landmark year for Indian space sector owing to the reforms.

“Our Satcom (satellite communication) and remote-sensing policy are in their final stages, the draft policy for space transportation is also in the works” he said.

Hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry with the ISRO and their affiliates, the three-day virtual conference will have eight sessions with over 65 speakers from ISRO, industry and global space agencies focused on specific themes – addressing opportunities for industries, trends in Satcom, business models, start-up growth drivers etc. The conference also has a session dedicated to start-ups.

Expressing optimism on the scope for private industry in India’s space activities, Rakesh Sasibhushan, Chairman, CII National Committee on Space and CMD, Antrix Corporation pointed out that, despite the pandemic disruption, the global space sector grew by over 4% to reach $447 billion in the year 2020.

He added that despite India’s wide-ranging capabilities and activities in space, the country had only captured less than 2% percent of this huge market.

However, he expressed hope regarding the coming times when private sector could participate in toto in space activities and help the country reap the benefits.