Making India the leader in Public-private partnerships is one of the main goals for the Indian Space Organisation. Will this help supplement the government’s efforts? Read and find out how ISpA will make it a reality.
All about the ISpA
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of the largest democracy on Monday launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA). The ISpA is an industry body made up of stakeholders of India’s space domain. Hence, it includes the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in addition to several private companies like MapMyIndia, Bharti Airtel’s One Web, L&T, TATA’s Nelcom among others.
Ever since the space race took off, governments of several nations have pumped millions of dollars into space research. This has helped them push to the edges and explore deep space. Moreover, with the changing times, space agencies across the world collaborated to explore space.
What do the Public-private partnerships in Space exploration bring in?
However, the space game is not just limited to the governments now. Private organizations like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic have joined the game. The private companies have been leading the race in spaceflight and making space tourism a reality, albeit for the uber-rich at the moment.
India has made significant achievements in the space domain with the aid of ISRO, a state-run organization. However, several companies in the private sector have developed an interest in cashing in on India’s space domain. However, now with ISpA as the spearhead, the dream is not far away. Recently, ISRO’s rockets have been transporting communication satellites for various countries.
What will the ISpA achieve?
ISpA is out to supplement the Indian government’s effort of making India a global leader in the domain of commercial space-based excursions. Private players can now broach into the Indian space domain easily. “ISpA will also work towards building global linkages for the Indian space industry to bring in critical technology and investments into the country to create more high skill jobs,” stated the organization.
The ISpA will interact with stakeholders and make policy frameworks that will add to the government’s visions. The stakeholders of the ISpA have a diverse range of capabilities that will help make it a reality. Other core members of the group include Ananth Technology Limited, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, Hughes India, BEL, Maxar India, Godrej, and Centum Electronics. Additionally, Amazon and Starlink are in discussions with the government for offering satellite-based Internet in India.