India’s space sector startups are looking forward to the new space policy for easier access to finance and clarity on issues related to liability in case of untoward incidents.
At least 100 startups are active in the country’s space sector building satellites, launch vehicles and even designing in-orbit refuellers for satellites that would otherwise have to be abandoned for want of fuel.
A new space policy addressing various domains of space activities is being worked out, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh told Parliament on Wednesday.
In June, privatisation initiatives in the space sector witnessed landmark events such as the launch of the first demand-driven satellite ordered by Tata Play and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying payloads of two Indian space sector startups.
Today, the market is very fragmented. We, at Dhruva Space, have three offerings in the space segment, manufacturing satellites for customers, interface with the launch vehicle and products that can be deployed at customer locations for the operation of satellites, Sanjay Nekkanti, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dhruva Space told sources.
Dhruva Space tested its satellite orbital deployer onboard PSLV on June 30 and is gearing up to launch satellites Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2 later this year to validate all systems before it offers satellites for its customers, he said.
A study by the Centre for Development Studies and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology had pegged India’s space economy at five billion dollars for 2020-21 fiscal.
