Private space firms and the Indian Space Policy

For most of its history, India's space sector was a government monopoly: ISRO designed, built and launched, and private firms supplied components to its specifications. In June 2020 the government opened the sector to private and non-government entities for end-to-end space activities, from building satellites and rockets to providing space-based services. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, IN-SPACe, was created in 2020 as a single-window body to promote, authorise and oversee private space activity.

The Indian Space Policy of 2023, approved by the Cabinet in April 2023 and issued on 20 April 2023, set out the roles of the main actors. ISRO would focus on research and development and on advanced missions; NewSpace India Limited, ISRO's commercial arm, would handle commercial operations; IN-SPACe would authorise private activity; and private firms could undertake the full range of space activities, including launch vehicles, satellites and ground services. The policy was meant to give firms the regulatory certainty they need to raise capital and sign customers.

Foreign investment rules were liberalised in 2024, allowing up to 74 per cent automatic-route investment in satellite manufacturing and operation, 49 per cent in launch vehicles and spaceports, and 100 per cent in satellite components, with higher stakes through the government route. A venture capital fund for the space sector was also created to support start-ups. Private firms have since worked on small launch vehicles, satellite constellations, earth observation data and space situational awareness, though the number of firms and the scale of private launches remain small compared with the United States or China.

The risks of opening up are real. Private rockets and satellites must meet safety and security standards, use scarce orbital slots and radio frequencies responsibly, and avoid creating debris. A single-window authoriser must be both promoter and regulator, which can create tension: the body that wants the sector to grow must also be willing to refuse an unsafe proposal. Liability for accidents and for damage in orbit is another open question, since India does not yet have a comprehensive space activities law.

For civil studies, the reform is a classic case of state withdrawal from a monopoly. Its success will be judged not by the number of start-ups registered but by whether private firms launch reliably, win paying customers, and build technology that India owns, while safety and security standards hold.