New era in India’s Space Odyssey: The rise of the private sector

Abstract

The Cold War era (1945-1991) witnessed a ‘Space Race’ where the two blocs constantly pushed the envelope of technology. From artificial satellites to landing on the moon, this period spurred development in rocket propulsion, which demonstrated that no distance is beyond reach. The unhindered Space Race raised fears of an arms race since the devastating atomic bomb explosions in 1945 in Japan had an indelible impact on humankind. With the intervention of the UN, the Outer Space Treaty 1967 came into being, successfully preventing a full-fledged space war. Despite these circumstances, India pioneered a space program through the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) that was focused on applying technologies to real problems of society. The post-Cold War era saw unprecedented cooperation between significant space-faring nations, the most prominent example of which was the establishment of the International Space Station (ISS) in 1998. While this reinforced the global relevance of space technology, a parallel transformation was palpable with the onset of the commercial era in the space sector. The last 25 years have witnessed the rise of non-state commercial enterprises with adequate capabilities to design, deliver, and operate assets in space and offer these services commercially to users all

across the globe. Applications include location- based services powered by navigation satellites like GPS, DTH satellite capacity, satellite imagery that powers weather forecasting, disaster management, urban planning, etc.