India's space economy has potential to reach $44 billion by 2033: IN-SPACe chairman

The Indian space economy has the potential to be worth $44 billion in the next 10 years from the current $8.4 billion, the Indian National Space Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) chairman Pawan Goenka said on Tuesday. This projection is based on the organisation's internal estimates.

India accounts for only 2% of the global space economy. By 2033, IN-SPACe aims to make the country corner 8% of the global market, including $11 billion of exports over the 10-year period.

He also announced that an exclusive launch centre for the private sector's small satellites has been planned in Tuticorin which is expected to be ready in two years. The land for the same has already been acquired.


Isro's rockets, however, may not be launched from there, he said, since it will be smaller compared with the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. This will be Isro's second launch centre after SDSC.

These measures are part of IN-SPACe's decadal vision and strategy for the Indian space economy, unveiled on Tuesday. IN-SPACe is the single-window, autonomous, nodal agency under the Department of Space.

At present, the share of the domestic market is $8.1 billion and that of the export market is $0.3 billion. The aim is to increase the domestic share to $33 billion, and the export share to $11 billion.

An investment of $22 billion would also be required in the next 10 years, Goenka said, to reach the $44-billion valuation target.

The decadal vision addresses creation of demand, local manufacturing capabilities, infrastructure and provides a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework that will encourage and facilitate non-governmental entities' participation in the growth of the space sector.

Goenka said that the space ecosystem is broadly divided into three groups – Space-for-Earth, Access-to-Space and Space-for-Space.

IN-SPACe aims to achieve the 2033 target through 10 key strategic and enabling capabilities - demand generation, earth observation platform, communication platform, navigation platform, research and development ecosystem, creation of a talent pool, access to finance, international synergy collaboration, and policy and regulation.

The vision aims to enhance India's space market capabilities and establish a space outreach wing within IN-SPACe to undertake assessment of value propositions, impact estimation and prioritisation for various sectors.

IN-SPACe also aims to strengthen the current NavIC constellation with a capability to operate in L1 band and market NavIC in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), develop talent and skill transfer programmes, including utilising expertise of Isro-retired scientists, increase space academic courses, including undergraduate, postgraduate and short term courses to provide end-to-end knowledge in space technology, along with AI/ML and GIS courses.