Global space industry players are eyeing Indian market, says IN-SPACe chairman Pawan K Goenka

Chairman of Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre Pawan Kr Goenka

Almost all major players in the worldwide space economy are interested in India as a market for their activities, space regulator Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka said.

"I cannot name any big players but barring one or two, there is no large space company in the world that is not interested in India right now," IN-SPACe chairman Pawan K Goenka told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the India Space Conclave on October 11.

"People who are manufacturing satellites and launch vehicles -- everybody is looking at India in a very big way. Because they see India as a market for their space activities," Goenka said.

This comes a day after IN-SPACe released a decadal report estimating the size of India's space economy to reach $44 billion by 2023, including $11 billion in exports. The report also estimates investments in the sector to reach $22bn over the next decade.

Also read: India's space economy to touch $44 billion by 2033, says IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka

The report points out that there are a few major areas in the space economy with the most potential -- navigation, communication, earth observation, satellite manufacturing and ground station segment, Goenka said.

"Right now India doesn't have anything in the ground segment section other than what ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has. The private sector doesn't have anything. And we believe that it's a good opportunity for India to provide ground segment-as-a-service  (GsaaS) which no entrepreneur in India has taken up," said Goenka while adding that there is a high barrier to entry in the segment.

With navigation as one of the key areas of potential for the Indian space economy, Moneycontrol asked Goenka about the role IN-SPACe will play in the adoption of ISRO's home-grown navigation system NavIC will play.

"We will be driving application (of NavIC) in three ways: Firstly, creating use cases and getting the industry to come forward and adopt these use cases and develop applications. Secondly, take what ISRO has developed, in terms of algorithms and transfer some of those to the industry and take it forward. And lastly, we will have to create the market," he told Moneycontrol.

Goenka's comments also come at a time when the Indian government has opened up the space economy (with the Indian Space Policy 2023) to encourage more private players to take part in the ecosystem.

Also read: What is space policy 2023, what does it mean for private players and other questions answered

While, the Space Policy has laid down the ways in which a private player, be it a startup or a major company, can contribute to the space economy, stakeholders also await the rules for foreign direct investment in the space sector to be released.

As of now, FDI is allowed up to 100 per cent through the government route. However, experts believe that the government's FDI rules for the space sector would open up the ecosystem further by boosting investments and so on.