IN-SPACe lines up 30 launches over 15 months

Bengaluru: The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) is coordinating about 30 space mission launches, over 15 months, from Isro’s launch port at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The launches are being planned by Isro, its commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and various Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs).

IN-SPACe’s integrated launch manifesto, released on Thursday, lists 14 commercial missions with the rest being user-funded, scientific missions or technology test launches. Functioning under the Department of Space, IN-SPACe promotes, authorises and supervises NGEs to undertake space activities. It said the line-up showed a “notable increase” in launch activity and the involvement of private industry in the space sector.

Of the 30 proposed launches, four were scheduled during the final quarter of 2023-24; one of these – the PSLV-C58/XPoSat mission – was launched on January 1. The three remaining launches in the present quarter are GSLV F-14/INSAT-3DS, Agnibaan-SOrTeD (a suborbital mission from Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos) and an SSLV D3 mission with an Isro primary payload.

Among the launches planned in 2024-25 are seven test launches in connection with India’s human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan.

Seven of the 14 commercial launches planned over the period are being undertaken by NSIL. These include two launches with PSLVs that are being realised through an industry consortium.

A busy space

Calling 2023 a “milestone year” noted for the rapid advances set off by India’s new Space Policy, IN-SPACe said the manifesto was in line with DoS’s plans to establish the country as a global manufacturing hub for space activities.

“This marks a substantial increase in launch activity compared to previous years and is a positive indicator of the expanding space ecosystem in the country,” IN-SPACe said.

The manifesto underlined suborbital and orbital launches by Agnikul and Skyroot Aerospace among the key NGE highlights.

NGEs facilitated for their satellite launch requirements include Digantara Research and Technology, Dhruvaspace, Space Kidz India and academic institutes like IIT-Madras, Manipal Institute of Technology and C V Raman Global University, Odisha.