The government on Thursday approved the India Space Policy 2023 which seeks to institutionalize private sector participation in the space sector, with ISRO focusing on research and development of space technologies. advanced.
Space Policy India-2023, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also describes the roles and responsibilities of ISRO, space industry PSU NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and India’s National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-Space).
Read more: India is competing with China in the $447 billion space economy
Union Minister Jitendra Singh told reporters here: “In a nutshell, India’s Space Policy will provide clarity on the role of established actors (in recent times).”
Singh said the policy will enable the private sector to engage in end-to-end space activities including satellite, rocket and launch vehicle construction, and data collection and dissemination.
He said strategic operations related to the space sector will be carried out by NSIL, a public agency under the Ministry of Space, which will operate on a demand-based regime.
When contacted, ISRO President S Somanath told PTI that the Space Policy would focus on increasing the participation of private actors in the space sector.
The recently created INSPACE will be the interface between the Indian Space Research Organization and NGOs, Somanath said.
The policy also provides a framework for the private sector to use ISRO facilities for a small fee, he said, and encourages them to invest in creating new infrastructure for the sector, he said.
Somanath said ISRO will not do any operations and production for the space sector and focus its energy on developing new technologies, new systems, and research and development.
The operational portion of the ISRO missions will be transferred to NewSpace India Limited, a public sector handled by the Department of Space.
Somanath said India’s share in the global space economy is currently less than 2% and the space policy will help the country increase significantly to 10% in the future.
“This is a historic moment as the cabinet has approved the India Space Policy 2023. This policy will pave the way for clearly needed space reforms and increased private sector participation to promote drive space economic opportunities for the country,” Lieutenant General AK Bhatt (retd), General Manager of the Indian Space Association, told PTI.
Bhatt said the private sector has been waiting for this policy for a long time and Thursday’s announcement was a pleasant surprise.
“We very much await and look forward to the approval of the policy details. We would like to thank the Prime Minister for his visionary leadership, with a particular focus on lasting reforms in the sector. India’s space sector,” Bhatt said.
