Cosmic connections

India's space startups are joining hands to share skills and expertise, minimise risk

- SHINE JACOB

India's 350-odd space startups are preparing to explore new frontiers. The funding that has flowed in since the government opened the space sector to private entities in June 2020 has propelled their ambitions to new heights. To realise those ambitions, which demand multiple capabilities, many of them are teaming up.

According to the Indian Space Association (Ispa), collaborations and alliances between these startups are becoming a defining feature of the country's space ecosystem as it races towards a projected $44 billion space economy by 2033, up from about $9 billion today. Tie-ups are taking shape across the board: Kepler with Astrome, Pixxel with Dhruva Space, Dhruva with SatSure, Kawa with Azista and Kepler, Bellatrix with Skyroot, and so on.

When it comes to space, no single startup has all the capabilities, says AK Bhatt, director general of ISpA. Collaboration allows them to share technologies, pool energies, and lower financial risks, he adds.

The boldest example so far came earlier this month when a consortium of four domestic startups—Pixxel Space India, Pier-Sight Space, SatSure Analytics, and Dhruva Space—won the bid to design, build, and operate India's first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite under a public-private partnership (EO-PPP) model. The deal, worth 1,200 crore, is the largest private investment in Indian space so far.

What stood out was the group's zero-cost bid. Though the government is offering up to 350 crore in financial support, these companies have opted to bear the entire investment themselves.