Startups can launch rockets, satellites soon
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, October 10: The government on Monday said that the Indian startups just like Elon Musk can send their own satellites to space, and even launch rockets in the near future. The ISRO will soon launch a constellation of small satellites of OneWeb into the space.
“Indian startups will soon launch space satellites, as well as satellite constellations and try their rockets,” said Union Minister of State of Space and Atomic Energy, Jitendra Singh.
He also stated that five PSLVs are being domestically produced by L&T and HAL, while OneWeb is all set to launch their satellites through ISRO and NSIL.
Speaking at the India Space Conclave in Delhi on the occasion of first anniversary of the Indian Space Association, ISpA, Singh said, “The revolutionary and out of box decision of PM Narendra Modi to unlock the space sector for Private Industry in June, 2020 changed the very nature of space ecosystem of the country.”
The Minister claimed that space reforms have unleashed the innovative potentials of startups and within a short span of time, “from a couple of space startups three-four years back, today we have 102 startups working in cutting-edge areas of space debris management, nano-satellite, launch vehicle, ground systems, research, etc.”.
The Minister also stated that a dual-use technology domain is emerging as an important multi-faceted enabler that provides unprecedented reach in the space sector. He added that many nations are today focusing on developing their military space capabilities to ensure its safe, secure, and friendly use along with deterrence capability to deny it to adversaries, when necessary.
“India too has resolved to leverage the strengths of this emerging dimension of warfare and in fact, Indian government is undertaking strong and decisive steps towards ensuring Atmanirbharta in the space sector to ensure the private industrial capability and capacity are effectively energised and channelized to develop cutting-edge solutions,” Singh stated.
The Minister noted the role of ISpA in engaging with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Ministry of Defence and the three (armed) services to address their requirements. “ISpA will play a much deeper role in supporting the capability and capacity-building initiatives of the Government in times to come,” Singh added.
Indian startups are growing in strength, and there are over 60,000 of them working in key areas, with many of them setting up bases in the tier II and II cities.
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