India’s space program is crucial beyond big ticket missions like Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan

India's IRNSS-1D navigation satellite launches on March 28, 2015 from Satish Dhawan Space Center. (Image credit: ISRO)

India’s space missions are renowned for achieving success despite their frugality. Chandrayaan 3, which made a soft landing on the moon on 23rd August, 2023 and also became the first vehicle to land near the lunar south pole, entered the space hall of fame for a rare touchdown as well as for its affordable price tag.

The return on investment for India is also high.  A recent study commissioned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) revealed that the economic impact of its space programs was 2.5 times the investment, amounting to billions of dollars and lakhs of jobs.

By throwing open the doors to private players and liberalising FDI regulations, the government helped spawn hundreds of startups whose funding has grown by leaps and bounds since the watershed year of 2021.

Several startups have sprung up in the last five years itself owing to government policy support and global interest in India’s space tech capabilities. They drew investments even as funds dried up in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Homegrown talent has also been relocating to India encouraged by the dynamic growth of the sector. This is certainly the right time for India to push the envelope on the final frontier as a new era of space exploration begins.    

The headline-making achievements of Chandrayaan aside, it makes practical sense for India to boost its space programme. Space offers many benefits to life on earth. In an increasingly connected world preparing for an Internet of things (IoT), satellite communications will be indispensable to provide unattenuated connectivity. Satcom will be able to integrate remote locations to the mainstream, eliminating the barrier to information and services that so far excludes such regions from development. They will also be essential as we try to build a more sustainable world, taking renewable energy solutions to locations that cannot be easily connected to a grid. Off grid infrastructure has to be monitored, managed and maintained remotely which is enabled by satellite communication. Besides these, there are the regular applications of satellite data to navigation, weather forecasting, urban planning, disaster management and agricultural productivity etc.  

In the past, research and development for space has birthed innovations that are ubiquitous on land today. Products including solar panels, camera phones, water filters and many more trace their origins to space R&D. Much more could emerge as humans continue to innovate for extended human exploration and habitation in space. In fact, outer space medicine research has accelerated in recent years as the cost of launching missions has substantially reduced. Space was always considered an ideal lab for biology experiments because microgravity eliminates the distortion caused by earth’s gravity on molecular behaviour.  

In today’s world, a space race like that of the Cold War era is obsolete. This is an age of space collaboration as humankind sets targets that surpass what any one nation can achieve by itself.  India, the fifth largest economy, cannot stand by in this global endeavour. It has to play an active role for a place at the decision-making table which regulates outer space exploits. The strategic power of space in building geopolitical influence cannot be overlooked either. India must double down on its efforts to provide cost effective commercial solutions for sending payloads into orbit. At the same time, it needs internal demand for the satellite launch market and more powerful rockets that can make a roundtrip of the moon and eye farther destinations.

Innovations in use of satellite data can create new applications and propel demand. Besides satellite communication, there is huge scope in space timing which can find use in high-precision timing services required in aviation, military, space exploration and research. Ground station as a service and satellite as a service also open up vast opportunities because currently any downlink of satellite data is only done by ISRO. Meanwhile, as far as satellite services are concerned, some startups have conducted successful commercial pilots with revenue and are negotiating contracts to send payloads to space soon.

Now, India is set to advance its lunar exploration besides gearing up for its first manned flight to space dubbed Gaganyaan. These capabilities have increased mass interest in space and India’s visibility among countries with advanced space programs. All of this made possible by ISRO’s ability to make the best of available resources.  Through mentorship and partnership, India’s space agency has paved the way for a dynamic space economy. Yet that is not where its major contribution lies. Most importantly, ISRO has inspired a generation of Indians to aim for the moon… and beyond.