New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) has generated over $400 million in revenue from commercial satellite launches carried out for the US and European Union over the past decade, Minister of State (MoS) for Space Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday .
Singh said sales figures are likely to increase in the coming years, starting with five launches in the first half of 2025.
“To date, Isro has generated $172 million in revenue by launching satellites for the US, and €292 million ($304 million) for the EU. Of this, $157 million came from US launches and €260 million ($271 million) from EU launches in the last ten years alone. This shows the kind of progress India has made in the space economy, and its current status as a leading space-faring nation,” Singh said at a press conference after Isro's launch of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDex) mission on Monday.
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The minister added that more such missions would be conducted in the future. “We have the LVM3-M5 mission planned for the first quarter for an international customer. India is also launching a direct mobile communications satellite for the US by February or March, showcasing our evolving capabilities. The much-awaited launch of the Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (Nisar) satellite will also take place in the second quarter. These are all commercial missions that reflect India's growing capabilities to increase the size of the country's space economy, Singh said.
To date, industry consultants and other stakeholders have argued that India's commercial space economy still lacks revenue-generating opportunities and have called for internal demand creation through ministries and other sources. Mint reported in June.
“You can see that there is progress. NewSpace India Ltd, a public sector undertaking, is working to increase India's commercial revenue opportunities in space. We are also building a new spaceport in Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu), construction of which is currently underway with a two-year timeline. This will specifically meet the demand for small satellite launches from Indian soil. The progress made is evident,” Singh added.
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However, Isro's manned space mission, Gaganyaan, is likely to face some delays. Singh predicted a tentative launch timeline of late 2026 and said the first test mission with the humanoid robot 'Vyommitra' on board is likely to take place in the first quarter of 2025. This launch was originally planned for late 2024.
“The delays are not the result of specific problems, but of a number of factors together. These include technical goals, geopolitics, weather and interplanetary conditions, and more. Overall, we are on track: our astronauts have been chosen and are also being prepared,” Singh said.
The launch of Spadex on Monday will also be crucial in this regard. The latter involves two satellites that will attempt to perform a docking maneuver, which will be crucial in helping India connect Gaganyaan's crew module to lander and orbiter modules in space, to safely return the future Indian astronauts to orbit to bring earth.
Rajeev Jaiswal, deputy director at Isro's Earth Observation Division, said Mint on the sidelines, three unmanned safety demonstration missions are already planned, one of which will take place in 2025.
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“Even with that, we have a target timeline of late 2026 for the launch of the final crewed mission of Gaganyaan,” Jaiswal added.
In addition to sending the first Indian astronauts into space from Indian soil, the domestic space economy is targeting a turnover of $44 billion by 2033. On Tuesday, Singh said this figure currently stands at $8.4 billion, or 2% of the global space market .
“We plan to grow four times in the next eight or nine years. This should demonstrate the kind of confidence that the Indian space market currently has. India has always had the talent, now we also have the administrative mindset,” Singh said.
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