India’s space economy could grow 5X to reach $44B in 10 years: Pawan Goenka

IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) on Tuesday unveiled a strategy laying the roadmap for India’s space economy to grow about five times its current size to reach $44 billion in the next 10 years. 

A story is developing on “how space is going to become mainstream of the commercial side economic activity” for India and contribute to the economic development as well as in terms of social benefits, Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe, said at a press conference. 

IN-SPACe is an independent nodal agency under the Department of Space to promote and supervise private firms, including startups, to take up space activities. 

The optimistic outlook on the sector comes on the backdrop of various reforms undertaken by the government in the past few years—for instance, the release of the Indian Space Policy in April this year, a revised FDI policy for the space sector that is expected soon, and operationalisation of IN-SPACe last year—to boost the role of private players. 

While creating capabilities for long-term growth, the potential of a $44 billion space economy is expected to include $11 billion of exports. A major part, or about $32 billion, could come from upstream activities like launch services and satellite manufacturing. 

Midstream and downstream activities, including operations such as ground segment systems, data, and satellite services, are expected to account for the rest. 

Among segments, communication is targeted to be a nearly $15 billion market, while navigation can be over $9 billion. Earth observation could see a CAGR growth of 28% through 2033, contributing $8 billion to the space economy and satellite manufacturing could grow by 24% CAGR. 

The need for investments

The agency said it estimates $22 billion in total investment will be required to grow the space economy to $44 billion. This will be inclusive of investments from the government and private sector. 

In March, IN-SPACe also announced a seed funding scheme of up to Rs 1 crore for startups aimed at space technology. So far, climate fintech mistEO and geospatial solutions provider Arms4 AI have received support from the scheme.

“This year, we have more funds than what we can distribute because the whole process is just evolving,” Goenka said at the press briefing, adding that they are improving the process and hope to do four or five such schemes every year. 

IN-SPACe's so-called decadal vision for India's space economy seeks to address demand creation, building local manufacturing capabilities, infrastructure and providing a regulatory framework that will facilitate the participation of non-governmental entities.

The agency's strategy fosters an era of collaboration between all stakeholders to accelerate growth of the Indian space sector and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is opening its doors wider than ever to private sector participation, Goenka said in a press statement.