Former ISRO chief highlights need for private participation to meet India’s space requirements

Former Chairman of the Indian Space research Organisation (ISRO), Dr S Somanath, today stressed upon the need for greater participation by the private sector as well as other stakeholders like state government in India to realise its space vision.

“At present we are carrying out 6-7 launches every year and we have about 50 satellites in orbit. This needs to go up to 60-70 launches and a fleet of about 500 satellites, for which we need to fast track investment over the next 10 years,” he said while speaking to The Tribune.

The space sector in India, he said, has traditionally been government funded and to realise this vision, investment by the private sector is needed. The state government can also become partners in space programmes as they also have their requirements for space products in areas like agriculture, he added.

Dr Somanath headed ISRO from 2022 to 2025 and is at present the Chancellor of the Chanakya University in Bengaluru.

Pointing out that India also needs a lot of satellites for defence purposes, he said that at present India is spending about Rs 1,000 crore annually on defence related space activities and this figure can go up to Rs 20,000 crore per year. He added that India can also meet space-based military requirements of other countries.

India offers “low cost” space services as compared to foreign countries and this is a big advantage for other nations. He said that there is big scope in tapping African and South American countries.

Dr Somanath said that profitability in space venture was crucial for the participation of the private sector and the scope offered by other countries can make it viable. He added that services like satellite internet, which is now being offered by Star Link can instead be made available by Indian satellites if the private sector can launch the required number of satellites.

There are several large industrial houses which have the capability of entering the space sector, which at present is dominated by the government. A number of start-ups have come up over the last few years. According to available information, there are an estimated 500 companies in India that are associated with the space sector, supplying various components and support services.

Recently, the government had told Parliament that space cooperative agreements have been signed with 61 countries and five multilateral bodies. The major areas of collaborations are satellite remote sensing, satellite navigation, satellite communication, space science and planetary exploration and capacity building.