Ashwin Prasad
On May 3, space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) released new guidelines and procedures for space activity. These guidelines may have a detrimental effect on India’s emerging private space sector.
Space is a critical high-technology domain that contributes to everything from traffic management and crop monitoring to border security and missile defence. Following sweeping reforms in 2020, India’s private space sector has steadily grown. The number of space startups operating in India has risen from one in 2012 to nearly 200 in 2024. However, sustaining this growth will require the right policy environment to attract investments, and encourage entrepreneurs.
Gaps in guidelines
IN-SPACe’s guidelines are a roadmap for implementing India’s space policy. While the space policy was ambitious by opening the sector to private players, the guidelines introduce fresh complexities and uncertainties.
The guidelines describe the process of this authorisation for the different areas of space-based technologies such as satellite communication, rocket launch services, and earth observation. Yet key areas such as scientific missions, and positioning, navigation, and timing services, which enable GPS and air traffic control, are missing from the guidelines. For unappraised areas, companies are tasked with learning and adhering to the global best practices. These should be handled by IN-SPACe, not the private entities. This shifting of responsibility to the private sector suggests a lack of capacity on IN-SPACe’s part.
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