India’s space bill set for liftoff? New draft to give IN-SPACe legal teeth, ease private entry, says report

The move comes amid growing interest from states in building their own space ecosystems.

A revised draft of the Space Activities Bill, aimed at providing a robust legal framework for private participation in India’s space sector, has been finalised and is ready for circulation among stakeholder ministries, The Indian Express reported, citing officials familiar with the development.

The proposed legislation seeks to grant statutory powers to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which currently authorises private space activities but operates without formal legislative backing.

“The bill is now almost ready and will soon be circulated to the stakeholder ministries for consultations,” Pawan Goenka, chairperson of IN-SPACe, told The Indian Express.

“It will provide legal backing to the authorisation and regulation processes in the space industry. As of now, authorisations to private players are provided on a case-to-case basis, as per the policies brought out by the agency. But IN-SPACe itself lacks statutory authority. The bill will grant it that,” he added.

The bill is expected to pave the way for a more structured and investor-friendly environment in the space sector, which has seen a significant uptick in private activity in recent years. The current framework, while bolstered by the Indian Space Policy 2023 and the establishment of IN-SPACe in 2020, lacks the legislative teeth needed to support and regulate a rapidly evolving space economy.

Originally drafted in 2017, the earlier version of the bill had faced criticism from industry stakeholders and was never introduced in Parliament. That draft included stringent penalties such as three years of imprisonment and fines exceeding Rs 1 crore for violations, including unlicensed space activity or environmental damage in outer space. It also vested intellectual property rights from space activities with the government, provisions that have now been amended in response to industry feedback, according to The Indian Express.

One key demand from the private sector has been affordable insurance mechanisms for space missions and assets. “The provision for insurance will indeed be a part of the draft bill,” Goenka confirmed.

The legislation is being seen as a stepping stone towards India’s ambition of capturing a $44 billion share in the global space economy by 2033, with $11 billion projected from exports. In comparison, India’s space economy was valued at $8.4 billion in 2022.

“After the internal consultation with the stakeholder ministries, the draft bill will be sent for a wider consultation to different ministries and then shared with the general public. Once we get all the inputs, depending on what the inputs are, not everything has to be included but these are things that have to be accounted for — we will create the final draft. The final draft will go to the minister in-charge, which is the PM in this case. Once it is approved, it will go to the cabinet and then the parliament,” Goenka told The Indian Express.

The move comes amid growing interest from states in building their own space ecosystems. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka have already rolled out their space policies, while talks are ongoing with Maharashtra and another unnamed state, the report added.

“States will do the manufacturing, it will not be the central government. What we are doing is incentivising the states to set up manufacturing parks specific to space. So far three have come up,” Goenka said.

“We will not do more than four to five hubs right now because there isn’t enough room for more. Let the activities grow and then we will do more,” he added.