Bengaluru Space Expo to promote private space industry

Six MoUs were signed between Indian and Australian companies to collaborate in the private space sector, at the inaugural session of the Bengaluru Space Expo (BSX), 2022 in Bengaluru on Monday.

The thrust of the expo is the promotion of the private space industry, in line with India’s recent space reforms. The seventh edition of BSX is organised by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) in collaboration with ISRO, and the government agencies NSIL (New Space India Ltd) and IN-SPACE (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).

The Indian and Australian companies that signed the MoUs are collaborating in different areas such as mineral exploration in space, reducing environmental impacts of space exploration, supporting agriculture and defence industries, health support to astronauts, etc.

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Speaking at the event, ISRO Chairman and Department of Space Secretary S Somanath said, “The most exciting part of the space ecosystem today is startups, they are showing great promise of success. But there is a long way to go.” He said ISRO will handhold the startups in terms of technology, capability and skilling manpower.

At the session, NSIL and HAL formally exchanged the contract they signed on PSLV production. On Sunday, NSIL had awarded the contract to the HAL-L&T consortium to produce five PSLV rockets (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles) at the cost of Rs 860 crore.

“NSIL is free to get more launch vehicles built from private sector, which will lead to innovation, and reduce costs. With this, in the next few years, existing launch vehicles can be retired. The government has to be an anchor-customer for private companies to some extent initially, to encourage the industry,” Somanath said.

Dr D Radhakrishnan, NSIL Chairman & MD, said newer technologies were emerging in the industry. “Satellites are shrinking in size, people are talking about micro and nano satellites. We are looking at mass production of small satellites that will enable the launch of satellite constellations. For this, we would like to partner with some emerging small-satellite companies.”

Delegates from Australia, UK and Netherlands spoke at the session about their plans to collaborate with the Indian space industry.