ISRO Chairman Dr.Sivan addressed the press about the future projects and plans of ISRO on Friday. In that he spoke about the Union Cabinet’s decision to grant access to the Private Sector to take part in the Space Activities as well.
PTI reported Dr.Sivan saying that the Private Sectors can now be a part of inter-planetary missions of ISRO, build rockets & satellites, provide launch-services for ISRO as well. He mentioned that ISRO will not reduce its activities and will continue to engage in advanced Research and Development activities and undertake inter-planetary missions.
Dr.Sivan said 10 space missions that includes Gagayaan- the mission to send 3 Indians to space by 2022, Chandrayaan-3 have been delayed due to COVID-19. Gadgets 360 pointed that ISRO is dependent on the private sectors -MSMEs for its components and the lockdown and departure of migrant labours could also be a factor for the deferral.
One of the key benefits the government sees in this announcement is that the newly created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.
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 utilization of our space assets.
These reforms will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme. Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism.