Government opens space sector to private players

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 24

The government today approved a slew of reforms in the space science sector to allow private players to join hands with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for space activities, including planetary exploration missions.

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Jitendra Singh, MOS, Atomic Energy and Space

These reforms will allow ISRO to focus on research and development activities, new technologies and human space flight programme.

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A meeting of Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved the setting up of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe). "The new agency will provide a level-playing field to private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. The new centre will hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment," Jitendra Singh, Minister of state for Department of Atomic Energy and Space, said. The ISRO will remain focused on its current mandate of the core research and development. The reform proposals approved by the Cabinet would allow opening some of the planetary exploration missions for the private sector through an "announcement of opportunity" mechanism, the minister said, adding that the reforms in the space science would allow an accelerated growth of the sector.

"The public sector enterprise New Space India Limited (NSIL) will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a supply driven model to a demand driven model, thereby, ensuring optimum utilisation of our space assets," the government said in an official statement. The Cabinet decisions are historic in the sense that they are true tributes to the founder of the space science Vikram Sarabhai who had visualized that the space science would become pan-India. This will also help wider socio-economic use of the space science," Singh said.

International status for UP airport

• New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Civil Aviation Ministry to grant international status to the Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh. The country's politically largest state will now have two proposed International airports — Kushinagar and Jewar in Greater Noida.
• Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, once the aviation facility gets operational, it will boost tourism to the place, which happens to be a Buddhist pilgrimage site and the airport will have a key role in Poorvanchal development. TNS

The purpose

• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) will be set up to provide a level-playing field to private companies to use Indian space infrastructure
• IN-SPACe will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies

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