The first test flight is scheduled to be undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) by the end of this year—with a second trial, carrying a homegrown humanoid robot, set to take flight next year.

Speaking at industry body Assocham’s Quantum Technology Conclave in Delhi on Thursday, Singh said that feats such as the upcoming Gaganyaan mission, as well as the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission and the Aditya-L1 solar mission, have catapulted India to prominence in global space economy.

“India, in the space sector, is no longer looked upon as a follower—major developed economies are looking to partner alongside India for space technologies and initiatives, driven by the success of the likes of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, the Aditya-L1 solar mission, and the upcoming Gaganyaan manned space mission, trials for which may begin as early as next month. All of this cannot be solely driven by the government—the success of the US space economy is a clear example,” the minister said.

However, to capitalize this, policy-makers in the country must look at the approach taken by global counterparts, such as in the US, Singh said. This, in turn, would “emulate the success of private firms in the US in industries such as space.”

“One key reason for the success of the US space sector was the impetus given to the private sector by the government—allowing it to flourish early. In this regard, a key achievement of our government has been in opening up access to central space facilities of Isro. This has allowed India’s space sector to flourish within a very short span—today, we already have 150 flourishing space startups within three years of privatization of the sector. The early entrepreneurs here have gone on to become highly significant in the industry,” Singh said.

“It is this public-private partnership approach that should be encouraged more by policy-makers in India, in order to more successfully open up the space economy in India,” Singh further added.

India’s overall space economy, according to a report from October last year by industry body Indian Space Association (ISpA) and consultancy firm EY India, is expected to be valued at $13 billion within the next two years. A key enabler of this is India’s first space policy, published on 20 April this year, which opened the sector up officially for private startups. Final rules and timelines under the policy are yet to be published.

However, multiple space firms have made advances in the meantime, through the nodal authorization body Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space). For instance, on 18 November last year, Hyderabad-headquartered space startup Skyroot Aerospace made India’s first private rocket launch.

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Updated: 05 Oct 2023, 10:54 PM IST