{"id":40882,"date":"2024-05-11T03:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T22:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=40882"},"modified":"2025-10-14T11:06:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:36:02","slug":"private-players-in-the-indian-space-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/private-players-in-the-indian-space-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Entry of Private Players in the Indian Space Sector"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>Opening up Indian Space Sector for Private Sector<\/li>\n<li>Indian Regulatory Framework for Private Space Companies<\/li>\n<li>NSIL Calling Private Players to Manufacture LVM3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The commercial arm of the department of space (DoS) &#8211; New Space India Limited (NSIL), has called on private players to manufacture its largest launch vehicle LVM3.<\/li>\n<li>This is the same launch vehicle that carried Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3 to the moon, and it will also be utilised for the Gaganyaan (human spaceflight) mission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Opening up Indian Space Sector for Private Sector:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The DOS desires to encourage the participation of private companies in space activities.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>This is to enhance the diffusion of space technology and boost space economy<\/strong> (from current $8 billion\/ 2% of global space economy to $100 billion by 2040) within the country,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>As a result<\/strong>, start-ups began to take root in India in the early 2010s with the first space start-up, <strong>Dhruva Space Private Limited<\/strong>, being established in 2012 in Hyderabad.\n<ul>\n<li>Soon after, <strong>several other space start-ups<\/strong> cropped up in India: Bellatrix Aerospace (2015), Manastu Space (2017), Skyroot Aerospace (2018), etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>As of date, <strong>over 200 space start-ups<\/strong> are registered in the country, <strong>attracting investments worth \u20b91000 crore in 2023 itself<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Most of these companies are involved in <strong>designing and manufacturing satellites, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/satellite-launch-vehicles\/\" target=\"_blank\">launch vehicles<\/a>, etc., and offer launch services using <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/isro\/\" target=\"_blank\">ISRO\u2019s<\/a> PSLV\/GSLV or private launch vehicles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Indian Regulatory Framework for Private Space Companies:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>NewSpace India Limited (NSIL):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is <strong>a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU)<\/strong> of the Government of India under DoS and is responsible for producing, assembling and integrating the launch vehicle with the help of industry consortium.<\/li>\n<li>It was established in 2019 under the Company Act 2013, with the main objective <strong>to scale up private sector participation in Indian space programmes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>In 2022, the agency called for complete manufacturing of its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (<strong>PSLV<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>A consortium of HAL and L&amp;T<\/strong> has been selected to manufacture five PSLV, with the first flight of the privately manufactured vehicle likely this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As part of the 4th \u2018Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan\u2019 stimulus, the Union Finance Minister announced the creation of IN-SPACe in 2020.<\/li>\n<li><strong>IN-SPACe was set up as a single-window<\/strong>, independent, nodal agency to authorise, promote and supervise space activities of private non-governmental entities (NGEs).<\/li>\n<li>Since its establishment, IN-SPACe has signed 45 MoUs with NGEs to support them in space activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>National Geospatial Policy:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2021, Centre <strong>issued guidelines for private companies<\/strong> to acquire all geospatial data and maps from government agencies without licences.<\/li>\n<li>Building on these guidelines, the Centre also <strong>unveiled the National Geospatial Policy in 2022<\/strong>. The policy promotes private sector participation in collection of geospatial data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Indian Space Policy:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Strengthening the private space sector in India by finally providing a legislative framework, the Centre rolled out the Indian Space Policy in <strong>2023<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The policy has paved the way <strong>for ISRO to transition from manufacturing operational space systems<\/strong> to a focus on research and development in advanced technologies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Amended FDI policy: <\/strong>In 2024, Centre amended its FDI policy, allowing &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Up to 74% FDI for satellite manufacturing and operation,<\/li>\n<li>Up to 49% FDI for launch vehicles, spaceports and associated systems and<\/li>\n<li>100% FDI to manufacture components and systems\/subsystems for satellites, ground and user segments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>NSIL Calling Private Players to Manufacture LVM3:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The LVM3 (previously GSLV Mk III) is the <strong>new heavy lift launch vehicle of ISRO <\/strong>for achieving a 4000 kg spacecraft launching capability to <strong>GTO <\/strong>(Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) in a cost-effective manner.<\/li>\n<li><strong>LVM3 is a three-stage launch vehicle<\/strong> consisting of two solid propellant S200 strap-ons and core stages comprising of L110 liquid stage and C25 cryogenic stage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The commercial capability of the LVM3:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was first demonstrated when it was used to deploy multiple satellites in low earth orbit (LEO).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Two batches of 36 satellites each<\/strong> were launched using the vehicle in 2022 and 2023 commercially for internet provider <strong>OneWeb<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Not only did the vehicle deploy multiple satellites for the first time,<strong> it did so in different orbits during the missions.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Why NSIL Looking Towards Private Players?<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>NSIL recognises that there is <strong>a growing demand for launching heavier communications satellites<\/strong> as well as other satellites to LEO.<\/li>\n<li>This is in line with the<strong> government\u2019s vision to increase participation of private players<\/strong>, making them capable of manufacturing complete launch vehicles instead of remaining mere producers of parts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>How will NSIL Handover Projects to Private Players? <\/strong>NSIL will conduct a two-stage bidding process &#8211; shortlist multiple technically qualified manufacturers and then select one company based on their financial competitiveness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/nsil-seeks-private-partners-to-build-its-heavy-lift-rocket-lvm3-9321268\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NSIL seeks private partners to build its heavy lift rocket LVM3<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isro.gov.in\/Reforms.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ISRO<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/india-private-space-sector-history-start-up-boom-policy-liberalisation-isros-role\/article68006900.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">The Hindu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New Space India Limited (NSIL) has called on private players to manufacture India\u2019s largest launch vehicle LVM3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":40883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-40882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}