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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 11 subjects, those that changed from 1 to 15 July 2026.Show all

Policy and private sector

India's first commercial Earth observation constellation

Prelims and Mains

Until now an Indian imaging satellite was built and flown by the state. A private consortium will build, own and operate this one, which is the thing the policy's admission of private firms was meant to produce.

The consortium is to fly twelve satellites by 2029, India's first fully commercial Earth observation constellation.
The payloads are optical, multispectral, hyperspectral with 250 bands, and X-band radar.

What changed

5 Aug 2026
PIB, 5 Aug 2026: Private space sector: first commercial Earth-observation constellation and reforms (opens in a new tab)
7 Jul 2026Updatealso in news
- Contact was lost with Drishti, built by a Bengaluru startup and described as the world's first OptoSAR satellite, which combines optical and synthetic aperture radar sensors on one platform. A geomagnetic storm is thought to have damaged a critical system. It had been launched on a Falcon 9 on 3 May.
The Hindu, 7 Jul 2026: Contact lost with Drishti, world's first OptoSAR satellite (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.

Planned re-entry: Bringing a spacecraft or rocket stage back into the atmosphere deliberately, at a chosen time and over a chosen place, rather than letting it fall where it will.

Active debris removal: Deliberately capturing a dead object and taking it out of orbit, rather than waiting on atmospheric drag.

IN-SPACe: Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, the single window nodal agency under the Department of Space, set up in 2020 to authorise and promote private space activity.

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.

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