Indian space startups received $430 mn investment: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) Indian space startups have received $430 million in investment till March this year, said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, in the Parliament, citing the success of opening up the space industry to the private sector.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Singh shared how private sector industries are participating in the space sector.

“The government has implemented the space sector reforms and the private sector is being encouraged to take up not only commercial but also scientific development activities,” Singh said.

“Till March 2025, cumulatively, a total of $430 million investment has happened in Indian Space startups,” he added.

To promote the participation of private entities in the space sector, the government had in June 2020 established the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) as an autonomous agency under the Department of Space (DoS) in India.

IN-SPACe has, so far, facilitated the transfer of 93 technologies developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Singh said.

“As per the IN-SPACe Digital platform, more than 400 NGEs submitted more than 650 proposals for various support activities that include facilitation, mentorship, transfer of technology, authorisation, etc,” Singh said.

“Till date, IN-SPACe has facilitated a total of 93 ISRO technologies transfer to NGEs. These initiatives are encouraging all the NGEs to develop innovative space and spin-off technologies and fetching significant investment,” he added.

IN-SPACe acts as a single-window facilitator for non-governmental entities (NGEs) involved in various space activities, including building launch vehicles and satellites, providing space-based services, and sharing space infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Minister also announced plans for major satellite missions later this year, up to March 2026.

This includes the recently launched NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite. The others are Oceansat-3A, GSAT-7R, NVS-03 and TDS-01.

Singh also informed of ISRO's joint satellite missions with other space agencies, which include a proposed G20 Satellite Mission for Environment and Climate Observation, LuPEX/Chandrayaan-5 lunar mission with Japan’s space agency JAXA, and the Venus Orbiter Mission with Russia and Sweden.

"India currently has space cooperation agreements with 61 countries and five multilateral bodies. ISRO has undertaken joint satellite missions, hosted foreign payloads, set up overseas ground stations, and engaged in collaborative experiments and data sharing," the Minister said.

--IANS

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