India has launched the much awaited Indian Space Association (ISpA) at a virtual launch event today. ISpA is a private industry body that will help to boost Space technology in India. ISpA will collaborate with ISRO and other agencies on the issue of policy around Space technology and domain. It will focus on capacity building and Space economic hubs and incubators in India. OneWeb, Bharti Airtel, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries, Ananth Technologies Limited, Larson & Toubro, and Nelco (Tata Group) are the founding members, whereas Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics, and Maxar India are the core members of the Association.
Inaugurating the ISpA, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi said that the government can no longer act as a handler for the Space sector, but rather has to work as an enabler. He highlighted the four pillars of Indian Space reforms:
- Freedom of Innovation to Private Sector
- Role of government as an enabler
- Preparing youth for future
- Space sector as resource for common man’s progress
“To facilitate the advancement of the Indian Space sector with private players in the Space tech, we have introduced IN-SPACe as a single-window channel between the government and private sector,” he said during his address. The Prime Minister referred to the opening of a host of sectors from Space to defense to private players, and asserted that his government has kept national interest as well the needs of different stakeholders in mind. He said India is seeing reforms on such a wide scale because its vision is clear, which is about having an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
“We need to give priority to efficiency and affordability in Space exploration as well as in Space technology development work. We have to move ahead from being only a Space component supplier to become a part of end-to-end Space supply chain,” the PM added.
He stressed that the Space needs an open platform approach. The world is moving away from the Information Technology age to the Space age and that India cannot be left behind.
Earlier, giving the welcome remarks and briefing on Indian Space Association, Lt. Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), Director General, ISpA said, “We will work with all stakeholders, service providers, manufacturers, startups and MSMEs, and will collaborate with INSPACe, the Department of Telecommunications, ISRO, TRAI, the Ministry of Defense, and so on.” The collaboration will majorly focus on policy advocacy to create an enabling environment.
Meanwhile, General Bipin Rawat, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, ADC Chief of Defence Staff, highlighted the opportunities for Indian private industries to strengthen India’s strategic space capability. “New technologies and R&D activities, exploration missions and human spaceflights continue to be ISRO’s mandate by many upstream and downstream-based products, whereas technological innovations has been taken over by the private industries with an idea, the time has finally come to fully establish Make in India,” he said.
The newly appointed Chairperson of INSPACe, Dr Pawan Kumar Goenka, shared his experience and opportunity of seeing some of the cutting-edge R&D work, meeting long-term suppliers, and interacting with startups. “Startups is where the future lies. Young companies like Skyroot, Agnikul, Bellatrix, Pixxel, etc., have set ambitious target for themselves. They have already made large strides and are ready to take on the world,” he said. However, Goenka highlighted that India’s share in global Space economy is far too less; it is just about 2%. “The time has come for a transition into Indian Space 2.0.”
In the last couple of years the Government of India (GoI) has taken some major steps, such as the formation of INSPACe to boost Space sector, making it easier for private companies to participate in the Indian Space ecosystem. “Work has already begun. NSIL is close to signing contract private sector consortiums of companies to manufacture PSLV. ISRO has signed MoUs with three startups. The pace however, has to pickup and ISPA and INSPACe will help in that.”
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises talked about Airtel’s OneWeb. He explained how the US and Russia are pouring billions of dollars into the Space industry. “The entire direction of this industry is changing, and if we do not adopt this, then our country could be left behind,” he explains. He also thanked the Prime Minister for taking timely action on the issue.
OneWeb will rely on ISRO’s PSLV Mark III to put their satellites into the constellation. OneWeb plans to beam internet down to the Earth, just like SpaceX’s Starlink is planning to do. OneWeb will put 36 more satellites into Space in the coming week. The idea is to bring broadband connectivity from Space. “We request you to ensure that the approval process should move at a fast pace,” Mittal adds. The next three-four years are very critical for this industry.
Dr. K Sivan, Chairman ISRO & Secretary DoS said that the formation of ISpA should create an environment of growth and development of the Space industry in India, including startups, MSMEs, and academia. However, there are many challenges ahead.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State (IC) Department of Space highlighted that Space technologies have entered common Indian households and India stands as the frontline nation as far as Space technologies are concerned. “The Indian government has made great efforts to democratize Space technology for the benefit of the common man of India. I would also like ISpA to engage further with startsups, academia, R&D centers, think-tanks, and for building up talent and skill pool with a more integrated approach and without getting tied-up in silos.”
GoI has been making continuous efforts to keep up with the rapidly changing technology landscape. Technology development is the most important aspect for any nation’s development. And in such an environment the government cannot be the only stakeholder; the private sector has equal contribution to make. Therefore, GoI has opened up the Indian Space sector to private players to ensure that the country remains ahead of the curve.
Stressing on the technology landscape, policy uptake, and security issues, Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor said, “Rapid strides have been made by the private sector in the development of niche technologies. Many of these techs are of dual use. They have revolutionized activities in several areas including navigation, Remote Sensing, weather monitoring, agriculture, satellite communication, and broadband Internet.”
He also emphasized that with appropriate policies and regulations the Indian private sector can become a co-traveler in India’s Space journey. A strong private sector will also contribute to meeting security challenges. India needs to focus on augmenting capacities in several areas, alternate Space launch options, commercially available indigenous satellite communication solutions, R&D in futuristic technologies, tracking capabilities across geographies, and protection of Space assets. Creating a proper regularity environment to address safety, security, and legal labilities issues will be central to these efforts.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways pointed out that Space and telecom are organically connected sectors, especially when it comes to spectrum management. He also invited the industry to come up with policy recommendations and global best practices.
