Bigger, Better, Cheaper: How India Is Building a Private Empire in Space

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In June this year, Sharma’s company, Digantara – which translates to “space” in Sanskrit – launched what’s arguably the world’s first commercial space-based space weather system, whose technology, he says, is “kind of like Google Maps for space.”

The same month, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned Digantara in his monthly radio show as part of India’s cutting-edge space companies that the world should look out for. By 2021, Digantara had raised millions in seed funding. It is India’s first private company that’s ready to send 40 satellites to identify and potentially clean up space junk. Space junk moves 15 times the speed of a bullet, and can smash spacecraft into pulp. The space junk monitoring market is, by one estimate, worth $2.9 billion this year.

The global space economy is worth nearly half a trillion dollars, with the U.S. and China as the biggest spenders. India currently makes up a mere 2 percent of it. But experts say things are changing at a pace that makes the country the next big thing in outer space.

A big part of this change is India’s shift to privatisation of space exploits.

There have been over 100 active space startups since 2012, according to the Economic Survey of India. Many of them are currently jostling to be authorised by the newly-minted InSpace, or the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, an agency that acts as a link between ISRO and private sector companies. Digantara is one of the two private companies to have received authorisations so far.

Vinod Kumar, director of promotions at InSpace, told VICE World News the department had received about 150 proposals from private space companies since 2020. He predicts India will make up at least 10 percent of the global space economy in the next decade, up from the current 2 percent.

The competition is tough. When it comes to space, NASA has pretty much captured global imaginations – from being the first to get humans to the moon, to helming missions to Mars. It works closely with private companies like SpaceX, and was allotted $30.62 billion this year by the U.S. government. Russia – the OG space superpower with which the U.S. has had a history of partnering – has hit a rough patch this year with the country’s invasion of Ukraine, and is functioning with a state budget of $2.97 billion. China’s space program had an estimated government budget of $13 billion in 2020, and its private space investment was nearly a billion dollars.

India’s space budget, in comparison – $1.7 billion for this year – is small. In this space race, the U.S. has 1,650 assets in outer space, while China has 450. India, so far, has 80.

A new report by the Indian Space Association and Ernst & Young predicted that India’s space economy is expected to be worth $13 billion in 2025. While its satellite manufacturing sector is expected to be worth $3.2 billion in 2025 – a huge jump from half a billion in 2020 – the “downstream” sector, which includes ground services, is expected to be worth $4 billion the same year.

Narayan Prasad, co-founder of India’s first space think tank, Spaceport Sarabhai, told VICE World News that India is looking at its own “Henry Ford moment,” where India has emerged as the favourite choice in the global space market. “With China being seen as unreliable collaborators, and Russia’s war impeding global trust, India stands out in a unique place with its space capabilities, ability to do business and the right mix of talent and infrastructure,” he said. “There’s literally no limit to what can be achieved.”

The next big thing in India’s business of space is defence. Last year, the then Indian Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said space is critical to operations both in peace and conflict, and that the privatisation of space will be essential to that. This year, Digantara set up India’s first private space situational awareness observatory on the foothills of the Himalayas. It monitors satellites. “This will bring indigenous capabilities to the nation for both military and civilian applications,” said Anirudh Sharma.

A company called Numer8, for instance, predicts climate change patterns to help fishermen. Another startup called Vassar Labs uses satellite imagery to advise governments on climate change’s impact on India’s water resources. Another startup called Skylo developed, among other things, agriculture sensors that measure and deploy soil nutrient and watering needs in India, where 70 percent of rural households depend on agriculture.

“I don't believe India is in a space race with anyone,” said Prasad. “India will benefit from the convergence of infrastructure, experience, talent, capital and the openness of the global market to engage with the country, to build space products to benefit not just businesses and government, but also citizens.”

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-to-launch-maiden-human-space-flight-mission-gaganyaan-in-2024-122091500017_1.html