Final frontiers, first opportunities

India’s successful moon mission has shone a light on the expanding involvement of private companies in space, and the afterburners are being applied to previously stalled projects. Chandu Gopalakrishnan reports

As the rover mission landed lightly on the moon, the impact rippled through the stock market; most specifically, it lit the fuse on companies involved in supplying equipment and components to the space sector. Together, they gained an astronomical INR130 billion (USD1.5 billion) of market value in a single day.

Take a look at some of the notable stock surges on 23 August, the day of the mission:

• Centum Electronics: This provider of systems to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) witnessed a 14% surge in its share price.
• Godrej Industries: With its subsidiary, Godrej Aerospace, supplying components to the ISRO, the company’s shares jumped 7%.
• Hindustan Aeronautics: The manufacturer of the Lander Module “Vikram” for Chandrayaan-3, saw its stock rise by 3.5%.
• Linde India: This spacecraft component supplier experienced a surge of more than 23% over the week.

Freed from the state’s previous policy-bound monopoly, the private sector’s expanding involvement in India’s space sector became evident with the liftoff of the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission.

It is a significant change, further helped by the recent Indian Space Policy of April 2023, which provides a level playing field and favourable regulatory environment for private companies.

In a drastic departure from the previous norms, the policy integrates private entities as independent contributors to space exploration and technological advancement; not just as suppliers or vendors.

The ISRO policy document, “Opening up of Space Sector”, states: “The global space economy is currently valued at about USD360 billion. Despite being one among a few spacefaring nations in the world, India accounts for only about 2% of the space economy.”

Elsewhere in the world, the private sector has assumed a progressively more significant role in space industries in the past two decades. However, in India, private space industry entities primarily have always functioned as vendors or suppliers to the government’s space programme.

“The [new space] policy creates a clear path for participation of the private sector and for the first time recognises the ability for the private space industry to participate in the market,” says Arjun Sinha, a partner at AP & Partners in New Delhi.

“This is a welcome change from the 1991 policy, which was fairly ambiguous on international participation and gave a clear preference to domestic state-owned enterprises.”

Please queue politely

Notable names like Larsen and Toubro, Hindustan Aeronautics, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Paras Defence and Space Technologies, and Godrej Aerospace are retuning their expertise to make a mark in the celestial realm.

However, amid growing optimism in the opportunities, conversations with stakeholders reveal a landscape riddled with challenges. The complex web of legal intricacies presents a multifaceted endeavour.

The paramount concerns centre on building strong partnerships between private entities and the ISRO while safeguarding intellectual property rights, fostering fair competition, and adhering to ever-evolving regulations.