Chandrayaan-3 conducted the final lunar-bound manoeuvre at around 8:30 am on Wednesday. After today’s manoeuvre, ISRO will perform another manoeuvre for lander separation. Separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module is planned for August 17, 2023, the agency said
Launched on July 14, 2023, Chandrayaan-3 has been progressively approaching the Moon through a series of meticulously planned and executed manoeuvres. ISRO has revealed that Chandrayaan-3 is likely to attempt a soft landing close to the lunar South Pole on August 23. As the spacecraft gets closer to the Moon, know why India's space tech ecosystem requires more government intervention
Two days after India launched its Chandrayaan-3 mission, the GST Council exempted private launch service companies from paying GST if they launched satellites into space using their launch vehicles or rockets. Welcoming the announcement, Lt Gen. (Retd) Anil Kumar Bhatt, Director General of Indian Space Association (ISpA), told Business Today Magazine that this will definitely incentivise the nation’s space industry and help in its growth. He added, “We hope this is made available across all satellite service domains, including applications.”
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In April this year, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the Indian Space Policy, 2023. While promoting the role to be played by the private sector, the policy aims to augment the country’s space capabilities; enable, encourage and develop a flourishing commercial presence in space; use space as a driver of technology development and derive benefits in allied areas; pursue international relations; and create an ecosystem for effective implementation of space applications among all stakeholders.
The opening of the Indian space sector to private entities in 2020 is beginning to bear fruit. The sector has secured $62 million in funding in the first half of 2023, a 60% increase over the corresponding period last year. In 2022, it attracted $112 million in funding, a growth of 22% over 2021. Over the past few years, despite the current funding winter, India’s space technology industry has expanded at a remarkable pace
“As a result of government initiatives to support local entrepreneurs and the opening up of the space market to private operators, the industry has seen a lot of growth,” Neha Singh, Co-founder of market intelligence platform Tracxn told Business Today Magazine. A report by global consultancy Arthur D. Little endorses Singh’s view. “India’s current space market is around $8 billion in size, and has grown at a CAGR of 4% in the past few years compared to 2% globally,” says the report
Although the steady growth in India's space market is encouraging, it may be necessary to take more enabling measures before the companies competing for India’s space tech pie can be successfully launched into the next growth orbit. But space is a cruel place where failure is not an option unless entities involved have government backing, or are well-capitalised, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. This justifies the relaxing of FDI regulations for the sector, in addition to the incentives already provided by India, say experts
Before 2030, India’s space tech ecosystem will produce multiple unicorns in multiple segments, predicts an early investor in the domain. “I am convinced that we will have at least three to four unicorns emerging in India’s space tech industry in another five years,” Ravinder Pal Singh, Partner at venture capital fund Kalaari Capital told BT
The growth potential of the sector is immense. In the past 10 years, nearly $27 billion in investments were made globally in certain segments of the space sector, which is now worth close to $4 trillion, according to Ravinder Pal Singh Singh. “If you look at space from the insurance industry perspective, it is not even tapped. Imagine if somebody can provide better visibility and transparency not only for objects in space but also for objects on the earth, that will be a huge thing,” he said
Therefore, the industry has long advocated for relaxing FDI norms, as the current framework is often ambiguous and confusing. Ranjana Kaul, Partner at New Delhi-based law firm Dua Associates, describes this as a “generic demand”. “FDI has been allowed for setting up satellite systems for 23 years. It used to be 74% and then during the launch of the Make in India programme in 2018, it was overnight made 100%, subject to sectoral guidelines. Those guidelines say that within five years, you have to bring it down to 74%
Policymakers are aware of the difficulties private spacetech companies have in attracting funding and are actively working on a solution. The revised FDI policy draft is being approved and will be released soon. This is much needed, according to experts, because there are no clear guidelines on FDI despite the sector’s enormous growth potential. A liberal FDI policy in the space sector will help in increasing the access to capital for the Indian spacetech start-ups, which will open more opportunities for collaboration and growth in the sector in the coming years, they said
A Space Activity Act may need to be enacted to bring Indian laws in line with global frameworks for space travel and exploration. In this regard, the government had put up a Space Activity Bill draft for public comments in 2017. Start-up founders see the implementation of the Bill as complementing the space policy. “An early clearance of the Space Activity Bill will complement the Space Law but also open up the scope for unlimited innovation-led home-grown start-ups to be launched,” said Suyash Singh, CEO & Co-founder of Bengaluru-based satellite maker GalaxEye Space
Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, Chairperson of ISRO and Secretary in the Department of Space, has one piece of advice for private companies entering the space sector. In a country where freebies are suddenly a hot topic, space tech companies must develop business models that make their solutions affordable to millions. He said, “We must find ways to deliver on-ground infrastructure and connectivity to millions at low cost.”
According to consultancy firm, Arthur D. Little, India’s space economy can potentially be worth $100 billion by 2040 as against the estimate of $40 billion. In June, during PM Modi’s state visit to the US, India became the 27th signatory to the Artemis Accords, a multilateral agreement between the US and other countries to return humans to the moon by 2025. And as the country prepares to send its first human mission into space through its Gaganyaan mission, the final frontier may well be within reach