The government has inaugurated the headquarters of the Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) with an aim to promote private investment and innovation in the space sector.
Commenting on the development, Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (retd.), director general, Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, “The inauguration of headquarter of IN-SPACe by the Hon’ble Prime Minister is yet another significant development in the overall vision of the government to boost private industry participation in Indian space industry, which has the immense potential to contribute to the nation-building and growing India’s contribution in global space economy which is only around 2 per cent currently. With IN-SPACe becoming the single go-to body for private industry to explore opportunities in itself is a big reform and now setting up its headquarters in the city of Ahmedabad is a strategic decision, which will enable the industry to move beyond its traditional hotspots and will also encourage the further development of startup ecosystem in the country. Today ISpA and its members OneWeb, Nelco, L&T, Walchandnagar Industries, MapmyIndia and startups like Bellatrix, Dhruva and many others were really happy to be part of the ceremony. We believe that scientific space legacy of ISRO, the enterprise of our industry and drive of our new generation will take India to new heights in space.”
Meanwhile, the government is also working on a new space policy which will provide ease of doing business in the sector and is aimed at increasing the coordination between government companies, space industry, start-ups and institutions.
The global space industry is valued at $400 billion and has the potential to become a $1 trillion industry by 2040. The inauguration function also witnessed the singing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between IN-SPACe and private sector companies working in the field of space-based applications and services.
