Space Becoming Important Component Of India's Economy: Union Min

Space startups attracted private investment amounting to more than Rs.1,000 crore in this financial year since April and this sector is becoming an important component of India's economy, said Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (MoS) of Atomic Energy and Space.

He said that India’s space economy today stands at a modest USD 8 billion, but the projection is that by 2040 it will multiply manifold. "But more interesting is that according to some international observers, for example, the recent Arthur D Little (ADL) report mentions that we could have the potential of USD 100 billion by 2040,” he said.

Singh said ISRO has so far launched more than 430 foreign satellites, earning more than 290 million Euros from European satellites and over USD 170 Million by starting American satellites.

Jitendra Singh said, "India has a rapidly rising number of space sector startups since Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated reforms in the Space sector. Within a short span of just about four years, the number of Space Startups has gone up from a mere single digit to over 1180, with some of the earlier ones having turned into lucrative entrepreneurs."

The minister stated India’s space missions are designed to be cost-effective, building upon human resources and skills.

“The Russian moon mission, which was unsuccessful, cost Rs.16,000 crore, and our (Chandrayaan-3) mission cost just around Rs.600 crore,” he said, adding, “Our cerebral resource is much, much more than our material resource finance.”

Singh said India’s Space missions have leapfrogged in the last nine years and are being hailed the world over. “Even though the USA and the then Soviet Union had started their space journey long before us and America also landed a human being on the surface of the Moon in 1969, it was nevertheless our Chandrayaan that brought home the evidence of water on the surface of the Moon,” he said.