Thirty Indian companies have answered the space regulator’s call to build and operate constellations of Earth observation (EO) satellites in a groundbreaking private-public partnership to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign data for defense, infrastructure management and other critical mapping needs. <\/p>\n
“We have received 9 applications … Each applicant represents a consortium, involving a total of 30 companies,” said Pawan Goenka, chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, or IN-SPACe. <\/p>\n
The regulator had sought “expressions of interest” (EoI) in July to build home-grown satellite constellations as part of a broader strategy to monetize the sector and ensure data sovereignty. <\/p>\n
India is doubling down on its small satellite and data services market to carve out a leading role in the global commercialization of space. The market for such services, increasingly key for industries ranging from telecoms to climate monitoring, is projected to reach $45 billion by 2030. <\/p>\n
The applicants for IN-SPACe’s latest effort in this regard include startups such as Google-backed Pixxel and Baring Private Equity-backed SatSure, as well as larger entities like Tata Group’s Tata Advanced Systems. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n
Goenka said he expects technical evaluations to be completed by the end of January, after which a tender will be floated to determine the winning bidder. <\/p>\n
IN-SPACe’s eligibility criteria include applicants raising or investing at least 850 million rupees ($10 million) in space-related activities, having a valuation of 8.5 billion rupees, or a turnover of 2 billion rupees in the past three years. <\/p>\n
They must also set up spacecraft control centres in India or partner with ground station service providers for operational needs. <\/p>\n
The government plans to loan up to 3.5 billion to the winner, with private companies expected to cover the remaining costs, according to a source familiar with the matter. <\/p>\n
Since opening the sector to private players in February, India has established a 10-billion-rupee venture fund to support space startups. <\/p>\n
The country has also unveiled ambitious plans for crewed space exploration and a mission to Venus, but the primary focus remains on fostering commercial ventures and scaling up private sector participation. <\/p>\n
India currently sources much of its EO data from foreign companies and agencies like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). <\/p>\n
IIFCL Projects Ltd, an advisory arm under the Ministry of Finance, is overseeing the bidding process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thirty Indian companies have answered the space regulator’s call to build and operate constellations of Earth observation (EO) satellites in a groundbreaking private-public partnership to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign data for defense, infrastructure management and other critical mapping needs. “We have received 9 applications … Each applicant represents a consortium, involving a total of 30 companies,” said Pawan Goenka, chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, or IN-SPACe. The regulator had sought “expressions of interest” (EoI) in July to build home-grown satellite constellations as part of a broader strategy to monetize the sector and ensure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-890830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-telecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890830\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}