'Will fly to Venus, Mars with pvt cos'

Private companies will be a major partner in India’s future space missions, including those to Mars and Venus, and India is not behind any world power, including China, in technical capability although the country needs to build scale, NITI Aayog member and defence scientist V.K. Saraswat said in an interview.

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

Saraswat said India’s effort is to capture a larger share of the global space economy and that its space missions have one key goal—unlocking access to critical minerals. According to information available from InvestIndia, a state agency facilitating investments, India’s space sector, which was at 2-3% or $9.6 billion of the global space economy in 2020 is set to reach up to 10% by 2030.

The new era of space—the unfolding of Space 4.0, which all nations want to be part of—offers a market, Saraswat said, adding that this justifies India’s efforts to capture at least 10% of that market.