From one startup to a space economy.
India reached the Moon’s south pole on a budget smaller than a film. Now the job is bigger: a space industry that earns a real share of the world market, Indians in orbit and on the Moon, and satellites that every farmer and fisherman uses without knowing it.
Seven positions, stated plainly.
Private industry must win a big share of the world’s space economy.
India holds about 2–3% of a global space economy and aims for 8% by 2030. That share is won by companies selling launches, satellites and data abroad. ISRO cannot do it alone and should not try.
Indians on the Moon.
Gaganyaan first, a station by 2035 and an Indian on the Moon by 2040. The dates have slipped before. They should be held now.
Space for daily life.
Weather warnings, crop maps, NavIC and internet in villages. A satellite earns its cost in the field and at sea, not at the launch pad.
Space security.
Orbit is now a theatre of war. India tested an anti-satellite missile in 2019 and is building 52 surveillance satellites. The doctrine and the hardware must keep pace.
Reliability before ambition.
Two PSLV failures in a row and eight months without a launch. Customers book the rocket that flies.
NavIC back to full strength.
Only three of the four satellites it needs are working after NVS-02 was lost to a faulty connector. A navigation system India owns has to work on every phone every day.
Satcom spectrum now, for rural India.
Three operators are licensed, one of them since 2021, and none can sell service yet. A village without a tower should not also wait for a file to move.
India in space in eight numbers.
- ~$8 bn Size of India’s space economy: About 2–3% of the world’s.
- $44 bn Target by 2033: IN-SPACe decadal vision.
- ~440 Space startups: There was 1 in 2014.
- ₹13,706 cr Department of Space budget: 2026-27.
- 2 of 3 Recent PSLV launches that failed: May 2025 and Jan 2026.
- 4th Country to soft-land on the Moon: First near the south pole. 23 Aug 2023.
- 0 Gaganyaan flights so far: Crewed flight now targeted for 2027.
- 3 of 4 NavIC satellites working: Four are needed. NVS-03 is due on 30 Oct.
Sources: PIB, Jun 2026; FICCI-EY; Rajya Sabha, Aug 2026; Union Budget 2026-27; The Space Review; ISRO; Channel IAM.