India sees S’pore as valued partner as private-sector space race lifts off

Republic could become customer of India start-up eyeing first orbital launch

- Nirmala Ganapathy India Bureau Chief

In a high-tech building in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, engineers at Indian space firm Skyroot Aerospace are working tirelessly on a rocket, made of carbon fibre and powered by a 3D-printed engine, that could end up being the country’s first orbital launch by a private company.

The rocket is named Vikram 1 after Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who is considered the father of India’s space programme, and will carry a mix of domestic and foreign satellites. The launch date has not been made public.

If all goes according to plan, the launch will mark the beginning of a new era for India’s space programme, which has long been the preserve of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), and could also kick-start a new wave of cooperation with Singapore.

Skyroot Aerospace, which has raised around US$95.5 million (S$123 million) since it was founded in 2018, is backed by weighty investors, including Singapore’s GIC and Temasek.

And Singapore, sources said, could become one of Skyroot Aerospace’s customers, with discussions under way to launch a Singaporean satellite on a future mission.

India has already launched more than 20 Singapore-made satellites over the past two decades through Isro.

But with New Delhi expanding the role of private players in India’s space sector in 2020, Singapore now sees opportunities to also work with a fast-emerging group of private companies that are supported by Isro.

“Working with Singapore will be beneficial for India too,” said Dr Pawan Goenka, chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the country’s space regulator, in an interview with The Straits Times.

“India is fairly advanced in space technology and we want to be the regional integrator of all things space.”