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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 3 of 8 articles, those that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026.Show all

International cooperation

Weaponisation of outer space

Prelims 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

Only one kind of weapon in orbit is clearly banned.Source: The Indian Express, 16 September 2026, and The Hindu, 20 September 2026

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.

Open the lead on its own page

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

Indian Space Policy 2023

Prelims and Mains

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.

Indian Space Policy 2023

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

From The Indian Express explainer, 14 September 2026

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

From The Indian Express, 6 and 14 September 2026. The rockets are the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3).

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)

NewSpace India Limited

Prelims and Mains

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.
The Indian Express, 14 Sep 2026: ISRO's 'privatisation' move: What India's space policy says (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.

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.

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.

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