IN-SPACe is the sectoral regulator for private players.
India has had a lukewarm start in terms of investments in the sector and up until 2021, the cumulative investment was only $100 million, he said at the ‘Development of Space Startup Ecosystem in India’ (DeSSEI) in Bengaluru. However, every year, the investment in the sector has been going up.
“In 2019-20 there was a big jump. There was an increase in 2020 and 2021 as well. Four companies have investments of more than $10 million (in 2022 alone). I am waiting for the first unicorn. Once we have the first unicorn, there will be a beeline of investors waiting to invest in Indian space startups,” Goenka said.
Referring to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, he said: “We will have to wait for some time. I cannot say when it will happen, but it will.”
MeitY Minister of State Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who inaugurated the conference, said the space economy was roughly $440 billion in 2021, and the global space industry is expected to surge to over $1 trillion by 2040.
Discover the stories of your interest
“To increase this share of space business, it is necessary to plan strategies and vision for the next decade i.e., 2022-2032,” said S Somnath, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
As per a report by Space Tech Analytics in May 2021,
there are 368 space startups in India and the country has seen investments worth $146.83 million since 2016.
“The industry is not risk averse, but they must look at financial payback because after all they’re answerable to their shareholders. They don’t care about a long gestation period, but they must look at the financial viability of any project. Space is not an easy business,” noted Goenka.
Goenka said he had conveyed to Chandrashekhar that almost 100% of the electronic components and advanced specialty material required in the sector are imported. Though ISRO has several global partnerships, India needs partnerships between private players and agencies outside the country.
“Another focus area is the ability of small startups to attract capital,” commented Goenka.
Elaborating on this, Indian Space Association (ISpA) director general Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt said apart from financial challenges, a regulatory void in the sector, availability of testing facilities on ground and in space, manpower shortages, no assured market demand, dual-use restrictions on import of critical components and dearth of support in creation of intellectual property are the major challenges.
