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हिन्दी — Read in HindiSpace policy, private sector and governance
How space is governed and opened to private firms: space policy and its bodies, startups and the space economy, international cooperation and treaties, and debris and traffic in orbit. Prelims has asked about the part private entities play in India's space programme.
International cooperation
The Artemis Accords
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The Artemis Accords are a set of principles, drafted by the United States in 2020, that a country signs to take part in NASA's Artemis programme to return to the Moon.
- They cover peaceful use, transparency, interoperability, registration of objects, release of scientific data, protection of heritage sites, and the right to extract and use space resources.
- They are not a treaty; the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 remains the binding law, and the Accords are one reading of it.
- India signed in June 2023 as the twenty seventh signatory; the group now numbers about 70 and includes neither Russia nor China.
- Critics say the resource clause sidesteps the 1979 Moon Agreement.
- That agreement declares the Moon's resources the common heritage of mankind, and few spacefaring nations have ratified it.
- Signing opened NASA cooperation to India: a joint mission to the International Space Station, the NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, and the invitation to Moon Base.
European Space Agency
- Ground stations to track Gaganyaan, India's crewed spaceflight missions
CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), France's space agency
- Built Megha-Tropiques and SARAL with ISRO
- TRISHNA, a joint thermal infrared mission tracking land surface temperature and evapotranspiration
- TRISHNA due on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) next year
What changed
12 Aug 2026New
- NASA invited ISRO to join Moon Base, a planned crewed outpost near the lunar south pole built in stages.
- The gain is experience for human spaceflight and the station; the risk is lock in to NASA's technology and future denial.
Mains: Joining a partner's Moon programme buys experience at the price of dependence, the trade India refused in the 1990s and now weighs again.
The Hindu, 12 Aug 2026: NASA invites ISRO to join Moon Base programme (opens in a new tab)
Background reading: The Indian Express, 18 Aug 2026: What India stands to gain by joining NASA's Moon Base programme (opens in a new tab)
Weaponisation of outer space
Copy link to Weaponisation of outer spacePrelims and Mains
LeadWeapons in orbit and the gaps in space lawSeptember 2026
Why in news
On 14 September 2026 the United States Air Force Secretary said the country has "space control" weapons in Earth orbit, the first public admission of this kind by any country.
- 1967the Outer Space Treaty enters into force
- 4countries that have demonstrated an anti satellite test
- over 70signatories of the Artemis Accords, India among them
- November 2026third substantive session of the UN process on an arms race in outer space
Background
- Military use of space takes four forms: weapons fired from Earth at satellites, weapons in space aimed at Earth, weapons in space aimed at other objects in space, and non kinetic means such as jamming.
- The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 is the basic law of space, and it bars nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
- The United States, Russia, China and India have each demonstrated an anti satellite test.
What was said and what was not
- The weapons are described as defence against "hostile adversary action", but their type, number, orbit and rules of engagement were not disclosed.
- Russia and China objected and called for space to be kept free of weapons.
What the law covers
- Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty bars stationing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit; it does not bar conventional weapons.
- Article III applies international law to space, and Article IX requires "due regard" for the interests of other States.
- The Artemis Accords are voluntary and do not bar weapons.
What has failed
- A China and Russia proposal of about 2008 for a treaty against placing weapons in outer space never came about.
- Talks at the Conference on Disarmament on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) have produced no treaty.
- The treaty and the Liability Convention are too coarse for satellites that are autonomous and dual use.
- The BRICS New Delhi Declaration recorded progress on a BRICS Space Council and backed preventing an arms race in outer space.
Space weapons and what the law says
| Kind | Example | Outer Space Treaty |
|---|---|---|
| Earth to space | a missile against a satellite | silent |
| Space to space, conventional | a satellite that disables another | silent |
| Space to Earth, conventional | silent | |
| Nuclear or other weapon of mass destruction in orbit | barred | |
| Non kinetic | jamming, spoofing, hacking a ground station | silent |
The way forward
- One argument is that India should use the Council to shape norms on proximity operations, so that defensive measures are read as lawful self defence.
- Another is for multilateral thresholds of action, agreed through the UN's open ended working group.
Prelims facts
- Space control: military activity to protect one's own freedom of action in space while limiting an adversary's.
- Kinetic means physically damage a satellite; non kinetic means jam, spoof or blind it.
- The Outer Space Treaty bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit, not all weapons.
- The Artemis Accords are not a treaty; they are voluntary principles.
Weapons in space are of four kinds, and international law bars only one of them clearly.
- The four kinds: weapons fired from Earth at satellites, weapons in space aimed at Earth, weapons in space aimed at other objects in space, and non kinetic means such as jamming, spoofing or hacking a ground station.
- The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 bars nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and bars military bases and weapon tests on celestial bodies.
- It is silent on conventional weapons.
- The United States, Russia, China and India have each demonstrated an anti satellite test.
What changed
20 Sep 2026LeadWeapons in orbit and the gaps in space law
Policy and private sector
The Indian Space Policy 2023 split the work: the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) keeps research and human spaceflight, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) clears private activity, and NewSpace India Limited sells what is built. Three years on, private firms are building an imaging constellation of their own, while ISRO's own staff have asked how far the handover goes and Indian launches remain the dearest in the world.
Indian Space Policy 2023
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The Indian Space Policy 2023 divides India's space work four ways and opens every activity, from building satellites to running launch sites, to non governmental entities.
- ISRO keeps research, technology development and the frontier missions.
- IN-SPACe authorises and promotes private activity as the single window.
- NewSpace India Limited sells launches and satellites commercially.
- The Department of Space makes policy.
- Frontier missions ISRO keeps: Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan 4, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035, a crewed Moon landing by 2040.
ISRO
- Research and new technologies
- Share technology with industry
- Human spaceflight roadmap
- Move out of manufacturing operational systems
IN-SPACe
- Authorise launches, satellites, ground stations
- Promote and hand hold industry
- Open access to government facilities
NSIL
- Commercialise publicly developed technology
- Commercial launches for Indian and foreign clients
Non-governmental entities
- End to end space activities
- Build and operate satellites and ground assets
Rules and the market
- Earth observation data coarser than 5 m is free; finer data is priced.
- Foreign investment rules followed in 2024: 74 per cent automatic for satellites, 49 per cent for launch vehicles and spaceports, 100 per cent for components.
- About 450 space startups are registered, against a handful in 2020.
- The space economy is about $8.4 billion, under 2 per cent of the world's, against a target of $44 billion by 2033.
Technology transfer: three rockets, three distances
Technology transfer is how a mature ISRO design, and the knowledge of how to build it, passes to a company, with ISRO supporting the firm for a fixed period and then stepping back.
SSLV
- Designed with industry in mind, assembled in about 3 days
- Transferred whole to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 2025
PSLV
- Assembled in about 70 days
- Being built by a HAL and Larsen & Toubro consortium
- Fresh call for its technology in 2026
LVM3
- A 2024 attempt to commercialise was never awarded
- New call in 2026
What changed
14 Sep 2026
- ISRO's staff associations asked whether the agency would stop building launch vehicles and routine satellites, citing vacant posts and departures.
- ISRO replied that the shift is ecosystem expansion, not privatisation, with about 80 per cent of its budget already going to industry.
- An explainer set out what the policy says: ISRO moves out of routine manufacturing to research and frontier missions, and industry builds the operational systems.
The Indian Express, 14 Sep 2026: ISRO's 'privatisation' move: What India's space policy says (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 6 Sep 2026: Letter sent after GSLV launch: ISRO staff question trajectory of space privatisation, want chief to clarify (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 7 Sep 2026: Private sector push is 'ecosystem expansion, not privatisation': ISRO allays staff concerns (opens in a new tab)
16 Aug 2026BriefA study put the cost of a kilogram to low Earth orbit on Indian rockets at $13,302 in 2025, the highest among major nations, against a world average of $3,868. The cause is rarity rather than inefficiency: India flew five launches that year, mostly on small rockets. The Hindu, 16 Aug 2026: Despite its reputation, India's per-unit space launch cost highest: study (opens in a new tab)
IN-SPACe
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The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), set up in 2020 under the Department of Space, is the single window through which a private company gets permission for any space activity.
- It authorises, promotes and transfers technology, and opens ISRO's test and launch facilities to private firms.
- It is an agency, not a statutory regulator, which is why questions of liability and accountability arise when it hands a launch site to a private operator.
- Authorisation covers building and launching satellites, running ground stations, and since 2026 planned re entry; its 2024 norms require every satellite to be disposed of at the end of its mission.
What changed
29 Aug 2026Briefnewly addedIN-SPACe invited private operators to run the small satellite launch complex at Kulasekarapattinam, handling launch campaigns and safety with ISRO guiding for a year or three campaigns, whichever comes first. The questions a private operator at a launch site raises are safety, liability and accountability to Parliament. Frontline, 29 Aug 2026: IN-SPACe has invited private firms to run the Kulasekarapattinam small satellite launch complex, while more than a hundred ISRO scientists have resigned and the Department of Space has taken back the power to clear such resignations. (opens in a new tab)
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2026: private entities in the space programme, including IN-SPACe
NewSpace India Limited
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NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), formed in 2019 as a public sector company under the Department of Space, is ISRO's commercial arm.
- It books launches for Indian and foreign customers, sells satellite capacity and transponders, and transfers ISRO technology to industry under licence.
- Where IN-SPACe gives permission, NSIL sells.
- The LVM3 launches for OneWeb and the PSLV now built by a private consortium are its contracts.
What changed
14 Sep 2026
- The explainer on ISRO's role set NSIL's part in the new division of labour: to sell what industry builds to ISRO's designs.
India's first commercial Earth observation constellation
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India's first fully commercial Earth observation constellation is a set of twelve satellites to be built, owned and operated by a private consortium by 2029 under IN-SPACe authorisation.
- Its payloads are optical, multispectral, hyperspectral and X band radar.
- It is the first case of what the 2023 policy was written to produce: an imaging satellite the State neither builds nor flies.
What changed
5 Aug 2026BriefThe constellation was announced: twelve satellites by 2029, four payload types, a private consortium under IN-SPACe authorisation. PIB, 5 Aug 2026: Private space sector: first commercial Earth-observation constellation and reforms (opens in a new tab)
Space debris and re-entry
Debris is a running cost in orbit: every dodge is paid for in fuel that cannot be replaced, and nothing can be dodged until it is tracked. India's answer is half hardware, the radars and telescopes that show what is up there, and half law: since 2026 an Indian operator needs a licence before bringing anything down.
Also drawn on: The Hindu, 5 Aug 2026: Astronomers prepare as SpaceX rocket stage nears Moon strike (opens in a new tab)
Space debris: tracking, dodging and the Debris Free Space Mission
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Space debris is dead satellites, spent rocket stages and fragments left in orbit at orbital speed, so that even a small piece can destroy a working spacecraft.
Tracking
- Nothing can be dodged until it is seen, so a debris policy is first a tracking programme.
- India's is the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA), known as Project NETRA.
- It has a multi object tracking radar at Sriharikota, an optical telescope at Hanle to see objects of 30 cm and more in geostationary orbit, and the IS4OM centre in Bengaluru that keeps the catalogue and screens every Indian satellite against it.
Dodging, and the 2030 pledge
- A collision avoidance manoeuvre is a satellite firing its thrusters to move off a predicted close approach.
- Each burn spends fuel that cannot be replaced, so debris shortens a satellite's life even when nothing is struck.
- The Debris Free Space Mission, announced by ISRO in 2024, commits every Indian space actor to leave no debris in orbit by 2030.
- It rests on IN-SPACe's 2024 norms and on India's membership since 1996 of the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee; what it lacks is a liability framework for damage to third parties.
What changed
13 Aug 2026New
- 20 of the 22 active Indian satellites in low Earth orbit face a raised collision risk.
- The Sriharikota radar is working, the Hanle telescope is under way, and the liability framework remains under consideration.
PIB, 13 Aug 2026: Space debris: ISRO's collision-avoidance manoeuvres and Debris Free Space Mission (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 5 Aug 2026: Space debris: ISRO's collision-avoidance manoeuvres and Debris Free Space Mission (opens in a new tab)
India's re-entry rules
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India's first rules for the planned re entry of space objects were issued by IN-SPACe in 2026.
- Any Indian entity carrying out a planned re entry anywhere needs IN-SPACe authorisation, and a foreign entity bringing an object down over Indian territory must act through an Indian incorporated entity.
- Only objects designed or planned to survive re entry need authorisation; dense parts such as tanks and engine components can survive to the ground, which is why a planned re entry is aimed at open ocean.
- The rules draw on the United Nations Guidelines for the Long term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities.
What changed
30 Jul 2026BriefIN-SPACe issued the guidelines, read as global norms finding a footing in India: jurisdiction over Indian operators abroad and over foreign operators above India. The Hindu, 30 Jul 2026: Guidelines issued for planned re-entry of space objects (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 24 Aug 2026: India's first rules for planned re-entry of spacecraft (opens in a new tab)
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