₹1000 Cr Venture Fund for Space Economy Boost: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman established a ₹1,000 crore venture capital fund in Budget 2024 to boost the space industry “fivefold over the next decade”. This action follows the government’s 2020 decision to open the space industry to private enterprises, which has resulted in a major increase in space startups, which now number more than 200.
India has high aspirations, such as creating the ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
The new venture capital fund is aimed to increase private sector participation in space activities by assisting startups and established companies in developing novel space technologies.
Furthermore, the establishment of 12 industrial parks across India will provide a huge boost to the space and satellite manufacturing industries, meeting long-standing demands for specialised space parks.
Private Enterprises React
Several stakeholders, including the Indian Space Association (ISpA), representatives from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), and Pixxel Space, have applauded the Budget 2024-25 provisions, stating that they will considerably boost the sector’s growth and development.
News agency According to PTI, IN-SPACe Chairperson Pawan Goenka believes that establishing a dedicated ₹1,000 crore venture fund will aid young entrepreneurs and non-government entities (NGEs) in the space industry.
Goenka expressed interest for promoting the spread of the space economy and creating an environment that encourages the establishment of NGEs.
Awais Ahmed, CEO of Bengaluru-based business Pixxel Space, stated that the venture capital fund will provide critical financial support to innovative startups and companies, enabling them to develop their technology and contribute to India’s space aspirations.
ISRO chairman discusses private sector participation in space operations
According to news agency PTI, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) head S Somanath stated in May that the Indian space industry represents a big opportunity for the commercial sector, indicating a new area for growth and development.
He stated that the union government expects the space sector to grow to $9 to $10 billion in the next 5 to 10 years, up from $2 billion today.
The Chandrayaan 3 and Aditya L1 missions
In 2023, India scored significant achievements with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s South Pole and the launch of Aditya-L1, the country’s first solar mission. These accomplishments strengthened India’s position in the global space economy and boosted the country’s private space sector.
India was the first to land the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft at the Moon’s south pole. This project, named “Chandrayaan-3,” which means “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit, successfully landed near the less-explored lunar south pole, succeeding the unsuccessful Chandrayaan-2 mission from 2019.
The Aditya-L1 mission aims to investigate the Sun’s upper atmosphere, particularly the chromosphere and corona. Its objectives include investigating heating mechanisms, ionised plasma physics, coronal mass ejections, and solar flares.
Important ISRO prospective space missions
Gaganyaan 1 Human Spaceflight: The first test flight of the Gaganyaan spacecraft, which is capable of carrying three humans and performing rendezvous and docking.
2024 NISAR Earth Observation: A joint initiative with NASA to launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite for remote sensing. This mission is remarkable for being the first to use dual-band radar imagery.
Chandrayaan-4 Lunar Exploration: The fourth mission in the Chandrayaan series, focused on lunar exploration. It is a sample-return mission with multiple modules to support each step of the operation.
