India to Allow Startups, Private Firms to Build Rockets and Satellites, Provide Launch Services

Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Sivan on Thursday said startups and companies will be enabled to build rockets and satellites as well as provide launch services as India looks to open up the space sector to private players.

“Private sector can provide space services, including building rockets and satellites,” he said at a briefing that was live-streamed on ISRO’s website, adding that this will put India in the league of very few countries with an efficient mechanism for private sector, leading to an improvement in access to space services.

Seeking to expand on the Union Cabinet’s decisions of Wednesday, where the government announced the setting up of a regulatory body for participation of private firms in the space sector, the ISRO chairman said private industries can also be a part of science and inter-planetary activities and projects of ISRO, besides having opportunities to undertake research and development in the sector.

While the private area has for a long time currently worked together with ISRO in providing segments and materials, the executive said that a bigger job than only that of a provider is being imagined with the opening of the division. 

"This has incredible open door for huge scope work in the tech area. The capability of the whole nation can be used to scale up space innovation. It will bring about quickened development of the segment. The primary change is empowering the private



part to do start to finish space exercises," he said. 

Driving space-faring countries, for example, the US and China, other than the European Space Agency, have been urging privately owned businesses to be a piece of their space program. On May 30, history was made by SpaceX when NASA space travelers were propelled into space by the first-at any point monetarily constructed rocket and shuttle.

India, however, had kept its core activities within ISRO while sourcing components for rockets and satellites from private companies. But that is all set to end.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced on May 16 that the government will open up space and atomic energy sectors to private players, levelling the playing field in space-based services.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet announced the formation of a new board, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-SPACe), which will be an extended arm of ISRO and will be in charge of promoting and guiding space activities of the private industries.

While In-SPACe will have representatives from industry, academia and the government, the focus will be on ease of doing space business. ISRO will share its technical expertise as well as facilities wherever feasible.

Though it may take about three to six months for the Centre to become operational, private companies can start sending their proposals to the space agency.