India’s offer to privatise small satellite launch rocket has 20 potential bidders: report

India’s newly set up space regulatory body — the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre or IN-SPACe, opened the process on July 11.

• Shubham
• 27 July, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

THE Narendra Modi government’s plans to partially privatise its space programme by inviting bids to make its small satellite launch rocket has garnered initial interest from 20 companies, Reuters reported citing an official overseeing the process.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the country’s national space agency, developed its small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) and had the first successful satellite launch in February after a failed attempt in August last year.

The SSLV was created as an affordable solution for launching satellites up to 500 kilograms into low-earth orbit, catering to the growing demand for satellite clusters in communication and data sectors, currently addressed by companies such as SpaceX and competitors.

India is now following NASA’s lead in opening launch and other space businesses to private investment under a policy driven by prime minister Narendra Modi, the report said.

The bid marked the inaugural privatisation of the SSLV rocket programme under the policy, representing a significant step in the move towards the involvement of the private sector in manufacturing and development of the programme.

India’s newly set up space regulatory body — the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre or IN-SPACe, opened the process on July 11 by allowing qualified companies to register interest.

Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe, said 20 companies had submitted an “expression of interest” (EOI) in the rocket programme, the Reuters report added.

INSPACe will have a pre-EOI consultation with these 20 applicants within two weeks, Goenka told the news outlet but did not reveal the names.

To be eligible for the bidding, companies have to be profitable and the lead bidder in a consortium must have manufacturing experience of at least five years and an annual revenue of Rs 4 billion (£37.6 million).

India has set its eyes on raising its share of the global satellite launch market by fivefold within the next decade, the report added.