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Around 440 space technology startups are registered on the DPIIT Start-up India portal, and IN-SPACe has granted 113 authorisations to 52 Non-Government Entities, of which 18 are startups.
Indian private companies are expected to undertake two commercial rocket launches in FY 2026-27, with more than six anticipated in FY 2027-28 once the launch manifest is approved by IN-SPACe.
The missions of the last three years listed in the reply are Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1, XPoSat, SPADEX, NISAR and GSAT-7R (CMS-03); upcoming missions are Gaganyaan, the Venus Orbiter Mission, Chandrayaan-4 and LUPEX/Chandrayaan-5 with JAXA.
ISRO's Debris Free Space Mission is being pursued through Active Debris Removal and end-of-life disposal, as Low Earth Orbit satellite internet constellations raise collision risk.
ISRO has been a member of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee — formed in 1993 — since 1996, and India also participates in UN-COPUOS working groups on long-term sustainability and space situational awareness.
The autonomous single-window nodal agency in the Department of Space for promoting, permitting and regulating space activities of both government and private entities; it grants authorisations, runs a digital platform through which startups apply for funding, mentorship, ISRO facility access, technology transfer, launch support and skilling, and issued Norms, Guidelines and Procedures in 2024 encouraging post-mission disposal
The commercial arm of ISRO, set up to commercially exploit research and development carried out by ISRO — a business function, distinct from IN-SPACe's regulatory and authorisation role
The most recognised international body dealing with space debris monitoring and mitigation; its members deliberate on debris matters and periodically revise the space debris mitigation guidelines
Addresses space debris mitigation and long-term sustainability, including safety of space operations; India participates in its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee working groups on Long-Term Sustainability and the Expert Group on Space Situational Awareness
Chandrayaan-3 launched; soft landing near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023, demonstrating safe landing, rover navigation, sulphur detection and soil temperature measurement
Aditya-L1 launched — India's first space-based solar observatory, placed in a halo orbit around Sun-Earth L1 in January 2024 to study the corona, photosphere and chromosphere
XPoSat launched — India's first dedicated X-ray polarimetry mission, studying bright X-ray sources including pulsars and black holes
National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM 5.0) released, with sub-metre satellite data and near-real-time disaster alerts
SPADEX launched, demonstrating autonomous docking and undocking, power transfer and circumnavigation — India becoming the fourth country to demonstrate space docking
NISAR launched — the first dual-frequency L- and S-band radar Earth observation satellite, jointly developed by NASA and ISRO
Institutionalise private sector participation, with ISRO focusing on advanced research and development and IN-SPACe on building the space ecosystem
Key: Approved on 6 April 2023. It mandates adoption of internationally recognised space debris mitigation guidelines, including measures on end-of-life disposal of satellites, across the Indian space programme.
Limit further generation of orbital debris and safeguard space assets
Key: Spearheaded by ISRO as a step towards implementing end-of-life disposal guidelines. Active Debris Removal is a central element, with precursor on-orbit demonstrations already initiated. The reply identifies Space Situational Awareness, operator manoeuvrability and trackability, registration obligations and a robust regulatory framework as the enabling conditions.
Use satellite data for crop area and yield estimation, monitoring and soil moisture
Key: Supported national programmes and the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana across major crops and states, with GeoCREST, the Potato Crop Monitoring System and VEDAS-based geospatial yield estimation operationalised.
Near-real-time monitoring of floods, landslides, cyclones, forest fires, glacial lake outburst floods and droughts
Key: Over 890 flood products and alerts for more than 11 major landslide events were disseminated through the Ministry of Home Affairs, NDMA, states, BHUVAN and NDEM. The Landslide Atlas of India was developed, and forest-fire alert services run with eight daily observations at under 30 minutes turnaround.
Geospatial support for planning, monitoring and service delivery
Key: About 6.93 crore MGNREGA works and 6.89 lakh watershed activities have been geotagged through Yuktdhara, Bhuvan Panchayat and NDEM; space technology also supports the Urban Frame Survey, the Green Cover Index for National Highways, property-tax mapping, AMRUT 2.0 and the Digital Postal Address (DIGIPIN) initiative.
Human spaceflight, planetary science and lunar sample return
Key: Gaganyaan is India's first human spaceflight programme, carrying Indian astronauts to Low Earth Orbit and returning them safely. The Venus Orbiter Mission is India's first dedicated mission to Venus. Chandrayaan-4 is a lunar lander and sample return mission using a robotic arm and an ascent from the lunar surface. LUPEX/Chandrayaan-5 is a joint ISRO-JAXA mission deploying a lander and rover for in-situ study of lunar surface and subsurface resources.
Satellite internet constellations typically number a few thousand spacecraft concentrated in narrow bands of altitude called orbital shells, so collision risk rises sharply within those bands. Most such satellites can manoeuvre autonomously to avoid conjunctions, but some fail on orbit and then cannot move, becoming uncontrolled hazards. The harder problem is small debris: fragments too small to be tracked cannot be avoided by manoeuvring and cannot be adequately shielded against, yet an impact can end a mission and generate still more fragments. Any fragmentation event near a populated shell — from a collision or an accidental break-up — therefore escalates the aggregate risk. The responses are ordered accordingly: Space Situational Awareness to know what is where, mitigation through mandatory end-of-life disposal so satellites are removed or decay naturally, and Active Debris Removal to take out what is already there.
Simple Analogy: A motorway where most cars can swerve, a few have lost their steering, and the road is scattered with invisible bolts — swerving handles the cars, but nothing handles the bolts except sweeping the road.
| Aspect | IN-SPACe | NewSpace India Limited | ISRO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Function | Promotion, authorisation and regulation of space activities | Commercial arm — commercially exploits ISRO's R&D | Research, development and execution of space missions |
| Set up | Announced June 2020 | Incorporated 6 March 2019 | Under the Department of Space |
| Headquarters | Bopal, Ahmedabad | Bengaluru | Bengaluru |
| Deals with private players by | Granting authorisations and facility access through its digital platform | Contracting launches and satellite services commercially | Providing technology and facilities under IN-SPACe-approved arrangements |
Registration of space objects and state responsibility for national activities — including those of private entities — are treaty obligations, which is why authorisation by IN-SPACe is a legal necessity rather than an administrative convenience.
ISRO's Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis is the indigenous Space Situational Awareness capability that underpins the debris monitoring the reply describes as a key enabler of long-term sustainability.
The 440 space startups registered with DPIIT connect this topic directly to Startup India and to the broader question of how a state-led sector is opened to private capital.
Flood products, the Landslide Atlas of India, forest-fire alerts and NDEM 5.0 make space technology a standard example in disaster management answers, alongside Mission Mausam's meteorological network.
GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology: Space Technology and its Applications
General Awareness > Space Missions and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Strategic Technologies
Atal Innovation Mission is set up under the
Answer: NITI Aayog
ISRO missions appear in Prelims nearly every year, and private participation in space is an increasingly frequent GS3 Mains theme
The point between the Earth and the Sun where gravitational and orbital forces balance, letting a spacecraft such as Aditya-L1 observe the Sun continuously without occultation by eclipses.
Measuring the polarisation of X-rays from bright astronomical sources such as pulsars and black holes — the purpose of XPoSat.
Deliberately removing existing debris from orbit, as distinct from mitigation, which only prevents new debris.
Knowing the position, trajectory and status of objects in orbit — identified in the reply as the most crucial enabler of long-term space sustainability.
The category used by IN-SPACe for private and non-government players in space activities; 52 have received 113 authorisations.
A narrow band of altitude in which a satellite constellation operates; crowding within a shell is what raises collision risk.