Key role for private sector, startups in space activities: ISRO Chairman

Thiruvananthapuram: Private sector and startups have a key role to play as India looks to boost its space activities to grab more share of the global market, said ISRO Chairman Dr S. Somanath, here on Friday.

He said ISRO has identified hundreds of different sectors, which will benefit from research done for space missions, and talks with some selected industries have already started to transfer the technology to them.

Dr Somanath was speaking on “ISRO’s vision and the rise of India’s space Tech companies” at the country’s flagship startup festival Huddle Global 2024, organised by Kerala Startup Mission here.

“Despite being an acknowledged space power, India's share of global business is just two per cent at USD 386 billion. India plans to raise it to USD 500 billion by 2030 and hit USD 1.5 trillion by 2047,” said Dr Somanath.

Pointing out the scope of business activities for the private sector, he said India has just 15 operational space satellites, which is a relatively small number. Considering the nation's expertise in space technology and the growing number of satellite manufacturing companies, India has the potential to have at least 500 satellites in space.

"Now many private players are emerging in the markets who have the capability to manufacture and place satellites in orbit and even private launch pads are coming up," he said.

While there was only one space-related startup in 2014, this number has grown to over 250 by 2024. In 2023 alone, space startups attracted investments worth Rs 1,000 crore. Over 450 MSMEs and more than 50 large companies are now actively contributing to the space sector.

With India expanding its activities in space to interplanetary exploration, future projects like India's human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan and the Indian Space Station will also be collaborative efforts between ISRO and private-sector.

There is immense potential for private sector involvement in designing and launching small satellites, geospatial solutions, communication systems, orbital transfer vehicles, and more, he said.

India has made significant strides in the space domain, having launched 431 foreign satellites to date.

ISRO collaborates with 61 countries on various projects. Current joint missions include NISAR with NASA, TRISHNA with CNES (France), the G20 Satellite, and the Lunar Polar Exploration mission with JAXA (Japan).

Answering a question from the audience, Dr Somanath said he appreciated Elon Musk's vision of inter-planetary habitation in the years to come, saying that it was in the nature of human beings to explore. "We started from one place and spread to different continents. So, it has been human nature to travel and explore from the very beginning," he added.