Indian space sector booming with private players; India aims for 8-10% global share

Private players are creating major waves in the Indian space sector, as the sector is witnessing “huge activity” from them expanding participation across communication, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other domains, whilst India aims to increase its share of the global space economy, said Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA).

“So, there is huge activity. The private sector is now participating to provide services in all domains, be it communication, be it ISR, and in future, maybe PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) to all users, military and so on,” Bhatt said.

He said the Indian private space industry has had successes, which includes the successful rocket launch by private space company Skyroot.


Read more: Skyroot Aerospace joins small group of companies capable of orbital launches

“The most important of them has been a successful launch by a rocket, by a private company called Skyroot,” Bhatt said.

“There are five to six companies now who have launched their own satellites,” he added.

The Director General said contracts have been given to the private sector for satellite-based services, including surveillance for the armed forces and an additional contract for 12 Earth observation (EO) satellites has been awarded.

Bhatt said the country has 2 - 2.5 percent of the global space economy’s share, which he estimated to be around USD 8.5 billion. He said India expects to increase its share to 8-10 per cent over the next 8-10 years, with its space economy reaching around USD 44 billion.

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Bhatt added that launch vehicles and satellites would provide the revenue, however, applications would be the most important component of the space economy.

“In those 44 billion, it will be money earned from launch vehicles, money earned from satellites. But most importantly, the economy has applications,” Bhatt said.

The former Lt. General identified agriculture, disaster management, education and medical services amongst other sectors where space technology could be applied. He added that there was an avenue for providing such services globally.

“This is the use of space for agriculture, disaster management, education, and medical services, where these services will be provided not only for India but globally,” he said.

The Director General noted the rising importance of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in satellite broadband, especially for rural and remote areas where fibre connectivity is hard-to-reach or expensive.

He highlighted the fact that Starlink has a constellation of about 10,000 satellites, Eutelsat OneWeb about 640 satellites and Amazon has launched about 396 satellites.

He added that Jio has announced plans to launch around 1,600 LEO satellites for broadband services.

He, however, brings up cost as a key challenge for satellite broadband.

“The one and only challenge after these companies also come is the cost. Because satellite broadband by LEO is costlier in comparison to what terrestrial broadband is available,” Bhatt said.

According to Bhatt, the government introduced a liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and guidelines for the sector but noted that a dedicated Space Act is still required

“A lot has been done by the government… But what of course in the end we also require is a Space Act to come,” he said.

He said important issues such as liability would be addressed by the regulator, which is empowered by the proposed legislation.

He said that the proposed law would establish or specify the role and powers of the regulator, and would also deal with liability.

The Director General said the government decided that spectrum for space communication would be allocated through an administrative mechanism.

On charges, Bhatt said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended 4 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), whilst the ministry has considered 5 per cent along with selective reductions for rural areas and other locations.

He also highlighted the country’s international collaboration in space with agencies such as NASA, JAXA, the European Space Agency and the French space agency.

Bhatt said the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is already providing data globally, while India and Japan are also working together on future lunar exploration.

According to ANI, ISRO on Friday successfully launched the GSLV-F17 carrying EOS-05, India’s first imaging satellite from geosynchronous orbit, placing it into a sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit.

(WIth inputs from ANI)