PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN INDIA'S SPACE SECTOR

 

PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN INDIA'S SPACE SECTOR

                                                          Nikunja Bihari Sahu

 

              The decision of the Union Cabinet to open up the country's space sector for private participation has come as a welcome response from many quarters including ISRO. The ISRO Chairman K. Sivan has hailed the decision saying that the step would not only result in the accelerated growth of the sector but also enable Indian industry to be an important player in the global space economy.

         The   far reaching reforms in the space sector announced by the Cabinet is primarily aimed at boosting private participation in the entire range of country's space activities as  private firms will now be allowed to use the facilities and infrastructure of ISRO for building satellites, launching rockets  and participating in  many space-based activities including planetary explorations.

     The outcome of this policy is many:

      First, this would allow ISRO to focus more on the R & D activities in the field of technological innovations and developing cutting edge technologies for future space explorations   leaving the routine activities like satellite development and   medium resolution imaging etc. to competent local industries.  Second, if the competence is created among private players to produce the entire range of satellites and launch vehicles, they could eventually capture the global market taking advantage of the lower running costs in India as a stepping stone. This, in turn, could usher in the creation of a vibrant space industry in domestic market that can match some of best establishments in Space, IT and Biotech sectors around the world. Third, despite being nearly 100 companies around the globe building satellites and other space based infrastructures, global trends show that governments increasingly prefer their own players for awarding contracts to cater to their domestic and national demands rather than relying on foreign vendors. Hence, the decision to open up space sector to private parties would contribute to a vibrant domestic market that would eventually contribute to materialise the dream of   Self Reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat) as cherished by our Prime Minister.  Fourth, for Indian space companies, the biggest customers for their satellites and launch services would be the various Govt.  departments such as the Meteorological, the Defence, the Disaster Management and many more. For satellite applications such as earth observation data and analytics, the various state governments would also be the major customers. Hence, the domestic space market once created would survive of its own as there would be no deficiency of customers within the country. Finally, given the large pool of engineers and highly skilled human resources available in India, Indian companies and foreign space companies would also attract partnerships from foreign markets to establish large-scale manufacturing hubs and service facilities in India. This would lead to even more flourishing and streamlining of the sector.

       The latest announcement comes as ISRO prepares itself  for its third planned lunar exploration mission Chandrayaan-3 and its first manned mission to space Gaganyaan. As the earlier Chadrayaan-2 project had not been able to achieve the desired mission objectives  because the crash landing of the Vikram Lander minutes before its touch down, ISRO has to quickly revisit its strategies and come up with new technological innovations to achieve the mission objectives of   Chandrayaan-3. Further, since Gaganyaan is a manned mission, no compromise should be made with the safety of the astronauts and they have to be safely returned back to Earth after accomplishing the mission objectives in space. Hence, the entire range of activities from launch to re-entry have to be executed  by ISRO in a flawless manner so as to establish itself as one of the leading and credible space agencies of the world. For this, ISRO has to predominantly concentrate on technological innovations rather than wasting time and manpower over trivial jobs that can easily be outsourced. In this connection, the opening of the country's space sector for private participation would save   ISRO from many unnecessary involvements in its hectic schedule and would come as an opportunity for accomplishing many technological breakthroughs and challenging tasks in space as demanded by the hour.

      Hence, the decision of the Cabinet to open up the country's space sector for private markets is a phenomenal reform long due. It will make India more internationally competent, foster innovation in space exploration and increase utilisation of public infrastructure built over the last five decades of time.

 

                                                               Education Officer

                                                        Regional Science Centre

                                                                           Bhopal

                                                               Phone: 8018708858

 

                                              

 

 

 

 

 

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