The external situation began to change with the historic civilian nuclear initiative pushed by then-U.S. As a result, India found itself incapable of scaling up its activities amid the unfolding boom in space commerce. This combination of external pressure and uncritical domestic support meant there was little incentive for reform and regeneration. India’s forced international isolation increased the domestic prestige of the space program and ensured a steady flow of state funding as well as considerable autonomy for its functionaries to set goals and define priorities. All along, any modest step in the space program was a cause for popular celebration.īefore sanctions hit, India enjoyed expansive cooperation in space technology with the West subsequently, it partnered with the Soviet Union. The flag wrapped around the space program became even tighter beginning in the mid-1970s, when India faced growing international sanctions, including limits on technology transfers, as it was developing nuclear weapons. If anything, international skepticism has reinforced India’s new techno-nationalism. But today, few can deny India’s space program’s considerable achievements, including in satellite construction and launching, telecommunications, and terrestrial observation from orbit for national development and defense. Since then, Indians have had to put up with much ridicule about their poor, under-resourced country shooting into space. India’s space program, like its nuclear energy program, began soon after the country’s independence and was driven by considerations of national prestige and economic and technological development imperatives. India seemed hesitant to go down the private sector route-at least, until now. The Chinese government, too, is finding ways to bring greater innovation to space projects by allowing more private activity and promoting competition between different space-sector entities. Washington has been coddling SpaceX with lucrative contacts, hoping private companies’ growing role will help reinforce traditional U.S. In the United States, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s company has broken the last of the government monopolies: the difficult business of launching manned rockets. New Delhi has set its sights on garnering at least 10 percent of this business by the end of this decade. The sector has been expanding at an explosive pace and is expected to reach more than $1 trillion in annual revenues by 2030, according to some estimates. India now accounts for barely 2 percent of global space commerce, estimated to be worth around $440 billion today. On both fronts, New Delhi has been unprepared. The other is the private sector’s growing role in space activities. One is the dramatic expansion of space commerce since the start of the 21st century.
For the first time, New Delhi is also ready to work with Washington and its allies on setting new global norms to manage space, including rules for commercial competition and the use of space for defense.Īlthough India was among the first nations in the developing world to build an impressive space program, it has not kept up with changing global trends.
For now, these would include areas like monitoring climate change, managing disasters, and mapping precious natural resources from space. Modi’s government has been exploring common ground on space security issues bilaterally with the United States and also plans to work with India’s partners in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue-Australia, Japan, and the United States-to leverage their collective space capabilities. What’s more, Modi’s reorientation of India’s space policy is yet another indication of the profound shift in New Delhi’s geostrategic orientation. The announcement was a significant step in Modi’s efforts to pull private resources into India’s space sector, which has rapidly fallen behind global peers as space competition heats up in telecommunications, resource exploration, planetary expeditions, and defense.
#India ancient space technology free#
In a major speech at the inauguration of the Indian Space Association, a new industry grouping this week, Modi called for a new approach, where, he said, the private sector is free to innovate and the government becomes an enabler. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to privatize one of his country’s most zealously guarded governmental monopolies: the space sector.
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