India has been the hotspot for the satellite broadcasting business for more than a decade. With the privatization of the Indian space sector, the country is experiencing a plethora of investments in the upstream market from several investors.
This trend has grabbed the attention of well-known conglomerates, organizations, and companies to participate and engage in the space sector. Though the investments and budgets in the Indian space sector have reached close to USD1.5 billion, there are still several gaps that need to be bridged in terms of opportunities identification, and segmentation, as well as to create and implement new policies to explore new markets.
The commercial satellite broadcasting market is by far the biggest booster of satellite business in India. From the perspective of satellite-based Earth Observation (EO), the country has yet to record a full-fledged deployment of solutions both in upstream and downstream markets. In the next sections, we will be dissecting the satellite business landscape of India from the point of view of policy-making, NewSpace technologies, and international cooperation.
The need for satellite symphony in the policymaking process
Space policy shapes the nation’s trajectory to achieving success in the long run. China, the United States (US), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are some of the nations where privatization and new policies have accelerated space technology developments. In the case of India, the space policy was published recently, indicating that India is creating reforms to develop its domestic market as well as to cast a wide net over international relations.
The Indian space policy has been observed by many experts as a strategic move to strengthen India’s existing and new missions in space. Considering the fact that India’s ecosystem operates in a state-driven decision-making process, it is also important to consider the fact that policy reforms will be required in other sectors to help space technology flourish and create a more sustainable revenue stream for commercial companies. For example, Urban Air Mobility (UAM) will be utilizing potentially both satellite communications and navigation. To tap this market, the government also needs to have policy reforms for UAMs. Therefore, space policy is just one step towards a larger goal. India also needs to strategically tap and reform policies in other sectors to take full advantage of its expanding commercial space ecosystem.
Enhancing ISR capabilities with NewSpace technologies
Indian armed forces have been long dependent on outsourced satellite resources or terrestrial communication technologies. This gap is about to be bridged as the Indian government has sanctioned military communication satellites for each of its armed forces in 2022 and 2023, which will be launched in the Geostationary orbit (GEO). The decision is appreciable but capturing the demand trend is something that the government instruments need to take into consideration in the future. A GEO satellite typically in a range of 2 to 3 tonnes is costly and there is little opportunity for private players to be involved as a subcontractor.
On the other hand, as the demand is rising in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), both also referred to as Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO), several defense agencies around the world are looking to deploy assets in the NGSO. One of the prime reasons is the reduced cost from several million dollars to a few hundred million dollars to manufacture the satellite. Secondly, it also provides opportunities to bring together the commercial private players under the government umbrella to develop military space applications at a much more viable budget. India currently has the presence of companies like Pixxel, which has won study contracts for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the US as well as a grant from the Indian Air Force. With the presence of several such companies in India, the government can leverage its expertise to enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of its armed forces.
Given the current tensions on the Indian borders and its increasing sharp focus on defense investments, military space applications should be the top priority for the country in the coming years.
International cooperation and the nexus of geopolitics
The space industry has without a doubt become a politically charged ecosystem since the onset of recent conflicts like Russia-Ukarine. As a matter of fact, the political aspect has always been integrated into the space industry due to the government and military control over space assets, but the increasing interference of geopolitical elements has amplified the complex layering in government relations in the industry.
India is currently at the forefront of global geopolitics, stirring the wheel as the prime democratic leader of South Asia as well as gradually becoming a security navigator in the Indo-Pacific region. Prime Minister Modi’s Neighborhood First policy has also included the space technology aspects where India along with Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka launched a communication satellite in 2017; Which is primarily focused on boosting regional cooperation between the nations.
This signifies the fact that the nexus of geopolitics and space technology can help flourish healthy international relations between nations. Similarly, in the Indo-Pacific region, India along with Australia, Japan, and the United States through the Quadrilateral Dialogue (QUAD) are enhancing the defense and other cooperation. QUAD’s primary focus is to reduce the Indo-Pacific region’s dependence on China. The group’s footprint is still yet to be seen, but as the Island Nations are heavily dependent on satellite communications, it will be no wonder that QUAD might initiate a space cooperation of its own in the coming years.
Conclusion
India is riding the wave of several successes in the space sector (including Chandrayaan 3 mission) and the day is not far that the country might use its space assets to tactically create a sphere of influence in international relations.
There are still several gaps in terms of capacity from the supply and demand perspective. The Indian government also needs to keep a thorough on such capacity-building instruments to ensure that its domestic market becomes a thread to serve the international and national interests in the space sector. Therefore, encouraging more public-private partnerships as well as policy reforms in other sectors will ensure the healthy and sustainable growth of civil, commercial, and military space applications.