INDIA'S SPACE SECTOR: ON TRACK TO A $100 BILLION INDUSTRY BY 2040

A record of 166 completed missions, 381 satellites launched for 34 countries, a thriving ecosystem of 140 registered space startups, and a projection of a potential $100 billion space economy by 2040.

What do these statistics demonstrate? That, India is no less! The numbers underscore the fact that India, despite its status as a developing nation, has achieved extraordinary feats.

It all started during the 1920s when scientist S. K. Mitra learned about the sounding of the ionosphere using ground-based radio methods. Meghnad Saha and C.V. Raman later contributed to space research. The real breakthrough came in 1945. Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha primarily conducted space research. At that time Sarabhai had founded the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad in 1947. On the other hand, Homi Bhabha had established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945.

In 1950, the Department of Atomic Energy was established to provide funding for space research. Finally, in 1962, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asked physicist Vikram Sarabhai to lead the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). There was no dedicated ministry at that time for the space program. According to R. Aravamudan, the first recruits in India's space program were young and excited people like him. All the people were sent to the United States to be trained at NASA before they came back and started working at the rocket launch pad station at Thumba in Kerala.

"We were part of a seven-member team dispatched by Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space program, to train with NASA and learn the art of assembling and launching small rockets for collecting scientific data," once wrote R Aravamudan.

Vikram Sarabhai collaborated with NASA to develop India's space program. Under the arrangement, NASA also supplied a rocket called Nike Apache to India. It weighed 715 kg and reached an altitude of 207 km with a 30-kg payload.