The world is ready for “an era of partnerships” to take forward the exploration of space, Minister of State for Science and Technology and the Department of Space (DoS) Jitendra Singh said in Bengaluru on Thursday.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the fourth edition of the Space Economy Leaders Meeting (SELM), organised under India’s G20 presidency. Singh said India’s recent push for public-private partnerships in the space sector provided insights into an “integrated approach” that helps forge domestic and international partnerships in the sector.
“The time has come to carry forward the collaboration, the bonhomie, the kind of kinship that we have developed through G20, from the surface of the earth into space, to discover wider horizons,” the minister said.
SELM was formally inaugurated in the presence of Minister of State for External Affairs and Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, DoS Secretary and Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman S Somanath, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) Chairman Pawan Goenka, and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant.
The two-day event is being attended by space agency leaders from 18 of the G20 countries, and nine invited countries, apart from the representatives of 33 global and 53 Indian space companies.
Singh said the delegates represented two-thirds of the global population, 85 per cent of the global GDP, and 75 per cent of world trade, making them influential opinion-makers who could drive the global space sector partnerships.
Somanath said SELM was part of a journey to ensure the formal induction of space as a future G20 agenda.
SELM – themed Towards a New Space ERA (Economy, Responsibility, Alliance) – is aimed at forming an alliance of responsible space-faring nations for an enhanced share of the space sector to the global economy.
Detailing India’s “biggest transition” in its six decades-old space programme, powered by its recent policy to engage with private industry, Goenka said “a large domestic market” was emerging in the country. India also offered the world strong technology partnerships with Isro, a strong vendor ecosystem, a growing manufacturing base, world-class software capabilities, a high number of STEM graduates, and cost-efficient labour. “The trade policies and agreements are very important (to international collaborations), as seen in the Prime Minister’s recent visit to the US, where space was an important point of agenda,” Goenka said.