New Delhi: What will India have to do for its Elon Musk, one of the pioneers of private participation in space? Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman S Somnath on Wednesday made some suggestions as he gave a major push for the space agency to play a role in boosting India’s private space industry.
“The challenge we face is that the knowledge we have at ISRO needs to be transferred to the industry. In the last 50 years, a certain amount of skill and capability has been developed in ISRO in terms of designing and making things,” Somnath said, adding that ISRO was not a “business-centric organisation”.
“They don’t know how to make money. But they do know how to develop products,” he said while addressing an event at the India International Convention and Expo Center in Delhi. “Something Elon Musk still does in India. But challenges may come from [here] are too big.”
He said India needs more application-focused start-ups – that is, companies involved in applications that are directly relevant to the public – rather than launch-vehicle- and satellite-focused start-ups.
However, to extend India’s private sector success in the space industry, ISRO will have to provide knowledge support, he said.
He said India’s space sector currently contributes less than 2 per cent to the global $447 billion space industry, but has the potential to grow to 50 per cent by 2047.
“The space sector economy, which today stands at about $447 billion, is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion. 50 per cent of this will be just 1.8 per cent of India’s projected GDP in 2047,” Somnath said.
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ISRO’s helping hand
Taking space technology to the industry, Somnath said, requires a change in mindset. He cited the example of Musk’s spacecraft engineering company SpaceX.
He said the company was successful only because of the support it received from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). “It doesn’t mean that NASA became vulnerable in the process,” he said.
Somnath said ISRO also needs to create a system for sharing knowledge and technologies with industry and start-ups, which in turn can commercialize the products.
“The transfer of knowledge from ISRO to the industry is already taking place. Many of our retired associates are already mentors to various start-ups And helping them move forward,” he said.
He said that the next two decades would see a change in the space sector as more and more people would travel to space.
“We [the space industry] Will be looking at several sectors, such as mining for rare earth metals, farming, space real estate, and hospitality among other things,” he said.
expansion of space This is possible only when the role of ISRO shrinks A “Technology Innovator”Allowing Private Industry to Lead and Lead In the implementation of the new technology, he said,
However, large companies are hesitant to invest in the space sector, mainly because of the slow rate of return, which is especially true in the case of companies involved in manufacturing launch vehicles, he said.
Transforming India into a Space Manufacturing Hub, and the Role of ISRO
As more private companies enter space, Somnath said he saw NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) – the commercial arm of ISRO – moving away from marketing ISRO’s launch vehicles and instead looking for space start-ups. Helping to facilitate funding.
He said that India should also become a global space manufacturing hub.
“Satellite production is something that can be done in India. I am already seeing some companies setting up manufacturing facilities in India [in the hope that] Orders will come for the same,” he said.
He said that it will help in creating jobs like India’s IT boom.
“The kind of boom we saw in the Indian IT sector, we will see similar gains (from space venturing) in the industry in terms of secondary impacts, job opportunities and all the range of activities required here.” They said.
Meanwhile, ISRO will continue to focus on space exploration with projects like Gaganyaan, Aditya L1 and Mars Orbiter Mission 2 in the pipeline. In future, the industry and ISRO will have to work together to develop new technology, he added.
“The way the younger generation is working is completely different from the way ISRO is working,” he said. “That’s the beauty of it. If properly advised by the older generation, many space Start-ups can build strong businesses.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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