INDIA SPACE INC.

COMPANIES THAT WERE PRIMARILY VENDORS TO ISRO HAVE STARTED WARMING UP TO THE IDEA OF INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGY AND MAKING BIGGER BETS IN THE SPACE SECTOR, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THE CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION 

- MANISH PANT

THE INDIAN SPACE SECTOR

• SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 1969, ISRO HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF ALL SPACE-BASED ACTIVITIES
• IN 2020, THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THE OPENING UP OF THE SECTOR TO PRIVATE FIRMS FOR DIFFUSING SPACE TECHNOLOGY
• OVER THE YEARS, ISRO HAS DEVELOPED A VENDOR OF 400+ ECOSYSTEM FIRMS THAT HAVE PLAYED A PROMINENT ROLE IN MISSIONS
• THIS INCLUDES SUBSIDIARIES OF CONGLOMERATES LIKE L&T, TATA SONS, AND GODREJ GROUP, AND OVER 150 SPACETECH START-UPS

August 23, 2023, India: There was no cricket match involving the Indian team that day. No new southern blockbuster had been released in theatres, nor was there a lockdown or curfew. Yet an hour before India’s mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-3, was to land on the lunar surface, people across the country either sat quietly glued to television screens or watched the event unfold on their smartphones. It broke all records on YouTube with 8 million concurrent views on the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) channel. The Vikram lander successfully touched down near the moon’s South Pole at 18:03 IST, and the nation erupted in joy.

Not only had India become the fourth in the world to make a soft landing on the lunar surface, it also became the first to successfully land near its South Pole. But beyond the euphoria, the event also signalled the triumph of more than 400 private companies that are part of the vendor ecosystem that Isro has nurtured since its founding in 1969 to service its components, materials, and fabrication requirements.