Indian space regulator IN-SPACe receives 577 applications for commercial space activities

Since India opened its space sector to private players four years ago, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has received 577 applications (as of November 1) from 383 entities, mostly private, for commercial activities in the space sector.

In-SPACe serves as the government’s nodal and single-window agency, responsible for the promotion, authorisation and supervision of space-related activities by non-governmental entities in India.

“We have about so far received over 570 applications for various things from these companies, of all shapes and sizes in all activities of space”, Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe says.

In an exclusive interview with Fortune India, Goenka explained that while 176 applications relate to the construction of satellites, 110 relate to space applications, which include earth observation, navigation and communication activities. Categories such as launch vehicle, ground segment, design lab, promotion, payload, deep space exploration etc., account for the rest of the applications.

The applicants include 168 startup companies, 92 large industries, 69 MSMEs, and 37 academic institutions.

Goenka asserts that the number of space-related startups has surged significantly in India in recent years. “There are some 250 space startups now in India, which was just about 20 three years ago. In addition, many companies that were supplying things related to the space sector to ISRO as vendors are also moving up the value chain”, he says, adding that the sector has the scope to attract more companies and it is beginning to happen.

The growing number of users on the IN-SPACe digital platform highlights increasing interest in space-related activities across industries, including startups. Over 1120 startups were registered as users on this platform, which so far has over 5666 registered users. With 1151 registrations, academia tops the list of registered users on the platform.

As part of its 2020 space sector reforms, the central government had announced the establishment of IN-SPACe to promote and oversee private sector participation in space activities. Additionally, IN-SPACe has been entrusted with operationalising the recently approved ₹1,000 crore Venture Capital Fund for space startups.