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Space 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.

Showing 1 of 8 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all

Space debris and re-entry

India's re-entry rules

Prelims and Mains

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)

Artemis Accords: A United States led, non-binding set of principles for the peaceful and transparent exploration and use of the Moon and other celestial bodies, including rules on resource extraction.

Moon Agreement: The 1979 United Nations treaty declaring the Moon and its resources the common heritage of mankind. Few spacefaring nations have ratified it.

Space debris: Dead satellites, spent rocket stages and fragments from break ups and collisions, left in orbit at orbital speed, so that even a small piece can destroy a working spacecraft.

Low earth orbit: The band of orbits roughly 160 to 2,000 km above the Earth, where most satellites and the crewed space stations fly.

NSIL: NewSpace India Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space and ISRO's commercial arm.

Non-governmental entities: The policy's term for private companies, startups and academia allowed to take part in space activities end to end.

Technology transfer: Handing a mature design and its manufacturing expertise to industry, with the developer supporting the company for a fixed period.

Earth observation constellation: A group of imaging satellites flown and operated together, so that a place on the ground is photographed far more often than a single satellite could manage.

hyperspectral: Imaging in hundreds of narrow wavelength bands rather than a few broad ones, which lets a satellite tell materials apart instead of only seeing shapes.

Also filed elsewhere

Everest and full-flow staged combustion · on Launch vehicles, satellites and applications
Everest is an 800 kN rocket engine built by a Bengaluru startup on the full flow staged combustion cycle, the demanding end of engine design.
Vikram-1 · on Launch vehicles, satellites and applications
Vikram-1 is a four stage launch vehicle about 22 metres tall, built by Skyroot Aerospace of Hyderabad, with three solid stages and a restartable liquid upper stage called the Orbital Adjustment Module.