Warplane-maker HAL wins bid to privatise India's small satellite launch rockets

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has won the bid to privately make India's small satellite launch rockets, the country's space regulator said on Friday, the government's biggest step yet to open its fast-growing space industry to private players.

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It was reported in February that three consortiums — Alpha Design Technologies, a unit of Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, state-backed Bharat Dynamics and HAL — were the finalists to acquire India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology.

Fighter jet-maker HAL had applied independently, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said in a statement on Friday, without disclosing the deal value. It was reported earlier that HAL was expected to pay about 3 billion Indian rupees (about $35 million).

By winning the bid to make the rocket, capable of carrying 500 kg payloads to low-Earth orbit, HAL will have the capability to independently build, own and commercialise SSLV launches, said Pawan Goenka, the head of IN-SPACe.

About 20 companies had initially expressed interest in bidding for the SSLV, the first privatisation of its kind under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy drive to open up India's space industry.

The global low Earth orbit launch vehicle market was valued at $13.9 billion in 2023 and is estimated to grow to about $44 billion by 2032, according to Global Market Insights.

India, which accounts for only 2 per cent of the global space economy, is eyeing a fivefold expansion to $44 billion by the end of the decade.