Indian startups are betting on an upcoming space policy to spur collaboration between the public and private sectors and even drive international expansion.
This comes after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISROPolar )’s Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C53 made history last week by launching payloads from two private Indian space startups into orbit, marking the country’s first official public-private collaboration in the space sector.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the space policy on June 10th. Modi was speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’s new headquarters (In-Space). The policy is expected to define the role that private firms can play in space missions, as well as provide access to ISRO-owned infrastructure and services.
Prior to the government privatizing the space sector in June 2020, private companies had no access to ISRO and other government space establishments’ infrastructure. Because it requires large investments, private entities in the country were also not involved in developing space components for the global market. In addition, the companies had difficulty raising funds to construct adequate infrastructure.
According to Sanjay Nekkanti, CEO of satellite services startup Dhruva Space, the company anticipates increased demand for satellite manufacturing, launches, and ground operations from around the world, representing a $20 billion annual market opportunity.
“We have already received commercial satellite manufacturing and deployment orders worth $3 million from global companies, and commercial space operations are still in their infancy.” We’ll launch our micro-satellite on the next ISRO mission, the PSLV-C54, and then expect to ramp up commercial satellite orders in the next 12-18 months,” he said.
Dhruva is looking to expand its operations by utilizing ISRO infrastructure, specifically the ISRO Nano Satellites (INS). According to Nekkanti, this can help Dhruva build customized satellites based on existing infrastructure, lowering costs.
Nano satellites, such as the INS, are low-cost satellites that carry small payloads containing private scientific experiments and are typically deployed in low-Earth orbit. Such satellites are expected to account for the majority of future satellite launches worldwide.
Similarly, Bellatrix Aerospace, based in Bengaluru, is competing to provide a variety of satellite services to global customers. Bellatrix CEO Yashas Karanam stated that the company provides two types of satellite services: an indigenous, electric satellite propulsion system and last-mile orbital connectivity for satellite deployment in orbit.
Karanam stated that the company has built local component sourcing for satellites with the help of ISRO and small and medium enterprises to accomplish this (SMEs). It is also looking to collaborate with private space operators such as SpaceX and Rocket Labs in the United States to further reduce the cost of satellite deployment. It also intends to use a proprietary electric satellite propulsion system, which Karanam claims can “significantly” reduce propulsion costs, making satellites more affordable.
Currently, the average cost of satellite deployment with a private operator like SpaceX is around $1,200 per pound of payload, while Rocket Lab charges $10,000 per pound. While no official figures are available, industry experts estimate that Isro’s PSLV costs roughly the same as Rocket Lab in terms of per-pound satellite deployment costs.
With their solutions, Indian startups hope to reduce the cost of satellite deployment by up to 30% by using indigenous propulsion, launch, and deployment technologies. Astrogate Labs, another Indian space startup, is developing a laser-based optical satellite communication framework for global deployment, which can assist existing satellites in upgrading data bandwidth and relaying high-throughput signals to ground stations, as well as for satellite-to-satellite communications. According to Nitish Singh, CEO of Astrogate, there is a global demand for such services, and the company has received expressions of interest from European satellite operators.
Furthermore, Anil Prakash, director-general of the SatCom Industry Association of India (SIA-India), an industry body, stated that the upcoming space policy would define technology transfer regulations, allowing private startups to use existing ISRO infrastructure and build on it, reducing costs and deployment time and allowing startups to scale.
