Private sector players in India’s burgeoning space ecosystem welcomed the final version of Indian Space Policy 2023 released by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday.
According to experts, the policy not only brings the much needed regulatory certainty but also helps space start-ups and enterprises in gaining clarity on various policy related matters.
However, some space industry representatives have warned that important regulations around spectrum allocation, foreign direct investment and frequency coordination have still not been hammered out.
After a three-year long consultation process, India has finally released its much-awaited policy establishing guidelines and rules for the country’s space ecosystem.
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The final version of the policy clearly defines the roles for the newly formed body Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), which seeks to work with with private players, including space tech start-ups.
“IN-SPACe shall function as an autonomous government organisation, mandated to promote, hand-hold, guide and authorise space activities in the country. For this purpose, IN-SPACe shall periodically issue guidelines and procedures, that would, among other things, promote ease of doing business,” the policy said.
Furthermore, the roles of ISRO and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) were also defined.
“The Indian Space Policy 2023 marks a yellow brick road for Indian private companies who not only wish to commercialise their products and develop new technologies, but also understand the kind of support which will be provided to them,” Kranthi Chand, Head – Strategy & Special Projects, Dhruva Space
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In the last few years, space start-ups such as Dhruva Space, Agnikul Cosmos, TeamIndus and Pixxel have started offering their services.
Notably, a lot of these start-ups have received grants and support from other countries.
Chand observed that the policy is clear about the collaboration between international entities and the private sector on not only commercialisation of products and services but also on the development of next generation technologies.
However, a top executive in Hughes, a global satellite technology company involved in distributing Bharti-backed OneWeb’s capacity in India, warned that rules around spectrum allocation, foreign direct investment, orbital slot allocation are not clearly stated in the Indian Space Policy 2023.
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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and the Department of Telecommunications are yet to decide on the allocation of satellite spectrum. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is yet to to define the FDI norms for the space sector.
“These are still early days,” the executive observed.
Meanwhile, Indian Space Association (ISpA) Director General AK Bhatt has said that the policy provides the much-needed clarity on all space activities and would help create opportunities for private players.
“It also clearly defines the role of IN-SPACe, as a single-window agency for the authorisation of space activities by government entities as well as NGEs (non-government entities). With this clarity on the policy, we are confident that IN-SPACe and DoT will work speedily to ensure necessary clearances for private players in India,” Bhatt said.
