Govt Seeks Greater Private Sector Participation In Space Sector

New Delhi, Dec 4 (KNN) India aims to increase its share in the global space market to 15 per cent by 2047, said Victor Joseph, associate scientific secretary at ISRO.

He noted that the key to that is not only the government but also the private space sector. 

“We already have many start-ups and MSMEs in play. But I think a much larger scale of industry participation, mainly from large industry houses, and the support of start-ups, will help to achieve such targets,” he said.

Speaking at a panel discussion, he said, “In-orbit servicing would include docking in space, repairing and so on. Another area is AI — we need robots, humanoids and spacecraft that are self-decision-making. These systems will play a very critical role with respect to safety and security.”

The discussion was on ‘From the moon to the sun: The dawn of the India NewSpace ecosystem’ at the Bengaluru Tech Summit that concluded last week.

In 2019, the government formed the New Space India Limited (NSIL) with the idea of commercially exploiting the global space market.

In June 2020, IN-SPACe was formed to increase private participation in the space sector. In April 2023, the Indian Space Policy was approved mainly with the aim of facilitating the private sector access to the space sector.

During the panel discussion, Joseph noted that the technological vision for the Indian space sector can translate into economic growth not just with government initiatives but with increased private sector participation.

(KNN Bureau)