Monday, Aug 24, 2026 00:15 [IST]
Last Update: Sunday, Aug 23, 2026 18:42 [IST]
AHMEDABAD, Aug 23 (IANS): India’s space sector now
has around 440 startups, marking a significant expansion of private
participation in an industry that was once dominated by government
institutions, ISRO Chairman and Department of Space Secretary Dr V. Narayanan
said at the third National Space Day celebrations in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Narayanan said the increase in the number of startups had
followed reforms in the space sector that opened greater opportunities for
private companies and entrepreneurs.
The figure places India’s emerging private space
ecosystem at the centre of the country’s broader effort to expand its role in
the global space industry.
“After the reforms in the space sector, there has been a
significant increase in the number of startups in the country, and today around
440 startups are operating in the space sector,” Narayanan said.
The ISRO chairman said India’s space programme, which
began in 1962, had developed from its early years into a programme with
applications directly serving ordinary citizens.
Narayanan highlighted some of the country’s major
achievements, including Chandrayaan-1’s discovery of water molecules on the
Moon, the advanced camera technology used on Chandrayaan-2 and the successful
soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023.
National Space Day is observed to commemorate the
Chandrayaan-3 achievement. The expansion of the private sector is also taking
place as India pursues larger missions.
"The country is working on the Gaganyaan human
spaceflight programme and the proposed Bharatiya Antariksha Station. The first
module of the space station has been approved, with the target of establishing
the station by 2035," he said.
The event was organised by ISRO’s Space Applications
Centre under the theme ‘Towards Viksit Bharat: Innovating, Collaborating and
Aspiring to Global Space Leadership’.
The programme also included discussions on preparing
young people for careers in space science and technology, expanding India’s new
space ecosystem and developing international collaboration.
Representatives from academic and research institutions,
private space companies, startups and industry participated in the discussions.
The event also saw awards presented to winning teams of
the ISRO Robotics Challenge, Indian Space Hackathon and Dr Vikram Sarabhai
Space Quiz.
