Indian National Space Promotion And Authorisation Centre: In-Space

Government has approved the creation of a new organisation- IN-SPACe, to ensure greater private participation in India’s space activities.It is part of an important set of reforms to open the space sector and make space- based applications and services more widely accessible to everyone.

Objectives

• The new Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) will assess the needs and demands of private players, including educational and research institutions, and will explore ways to accommodate these requirements in consultation with ISRO.
• Existing ISRO infrastructure, both ground- and space- based, scientific and technical resources, andeven data are planned to be made accessible to interested parties to enable them to carry out their space-related activities.
• It is expected to be functional within six months.

Need for IN-SPACe

• To Increase the Footprint in Global Space Economy: Indian industry has a barely three per cent share in a rapidly growing global space economy which is already worth at least $360 billion. Only two per cent of this market is for rocket and satellite launch services, which require large infrastructure and heavy investment. The remaining 95 per cent is related to satellite-based services, and ground-based systems.
• Development of Competency of Indian Industries: Indian industries are unable to compete, because till now their role has been mainly that of suppliers of components and sub-systems. They lack resources or the technology to undertake independent space projects of the kind that US companies such as SpaceX have been doing or providing space-based services.
• Increasing Demand of Space-based Services: The demand for space-based applications and services is growing even within India, and ISRO is unableto cater to this. The need for satellite data,imageries and space technology now cuts across sectors, from weather to agriculture to transport to urban develop- ment, and more. ISRO would have to be expanded 10 times the current level to meet all the demand that is soaring.
• Initial Push and Hand holding to Private Companies: There are several Indian companies waiting to make use of rising opportunities in space economy. Some private companies are in the process of developing their own launch vehicles, rockets like ISRO’s PSLV that carry the satellites and other payloads into space etc and ISRO can help them in doing so. Right now, all launches from India happen on ISRO rockets, the different versions of PSLV and GSLV. ISRO will provide all its facilities to private players whose projects have approval by IN-SPACe. Private companies, if they want, could even build their own launchpad within the Sriharikota launch station, and ISRO would provide the necessary land for that.
• To Actas a Facilitator and Regulator: IN-SPACe is supposed to act as a facilitator as well as a regulator for private industries. It will act as an interface between ISRO and private parties and assess how best to utilise India’s space resources and increase space- based activities.
• Commercial and Strategic Interests: There are two main reasons why enhanced private involvementin the space sector seems important. One is commercial, and the other strategic. There is a need for greater dissemination of space technologies, better utilisation of space resources, and in creased requirement of space-based services. And ISRO seems unable to satisfy this need on its own.
• Unburden ISRO to Focus on its Core Competencies: The private industry will also free up ISRO to concentrate on science, research and development, interplanetary exploration and strategic launches. Right now, too much of ISRO’s resources are consumed by routine activities that delay its more strategic objectives. There is no reason why ISRO alone should be launching weather or communication satellites. The world over, an increasing number of private players are taking over this activity for commercial benefits. ISRO, like NASA, is essentially a scientific organisation whose main objective is exploration of space and carrying out scientific missions. There are several ambitious space missions lined up in the coming years, including a mission to observe the Sun, a mission to the Moon, a human spaceflight, and then, possibly, a human landin.g on the Moon.
• To Build Space Ecosystem and Space Economy: Experts say that the entry of private players will not wean away the revenues that ISRO gets through commercial launches. It will enrich the sector and help in building a resilient ecosystem of space technology-based enterprises in India. The space-based economy is expected to “explode” in the next few years in India, and there would be more than enough for all to share from the pie.

Challenges

• Experts welcomed the initiative of private participation in space activities but opined that if the government has to achieve its stated goal of indigenising the space sector and creating an economic enterprise around it, IN-SPACe must also initiate sig- nificant changes in both policy and culture of the sector. Only then can it enable a private space economy of global interest and significance. Some of the major challenges afflicting the space sector in India are as follows:
• Historical Issues and Mistrust: India’s history with private enterprises involved in space and telecommunications activities hasn’t exactly been smooth. The Antrix-Devas issue, which concluded with India being held responsible for violating a bilateral investment treaty, suffices to highlight the need to address bureaucratic processes involved in managing contracts between the state and the private sector.
• Lack of Stable Policy Environment: The court’s cancellation of 2G spectrum licenses for corruption dealt a body blow to India’s efforts to project itself as an investment-friendly telecommunications and satellite communication market. Lack of stable policy environment undermined India’s position of attractive business and investment friendly destination.
• Complex Regulatory Regime: The tension between the satellite communications (SATCOM) industry and the Indian government arises out of a complex regulatory regime that consists of the following instruments:
  • The norms, guidelines and procedures for implementation of the policy framework as approved by the Government in 2000 (SATCOM Norms).
  • Indian Telegraph Act 1885.
  • National Frequency Allocation Plan 2018.
• Fragmented Governance: The task of enforcing and implementing laws related to SATCOM industry is distributed between multiple ministries, departments and agencies such as Department of Space, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Home Affairs etc. Lack of effective cooperation leads to red-tapism, unwanted delay and cost overrun for projects.
• Discretionary Powers to Regulatory Bodies: These agencies have the discretion to ensure commercial space activities are permitted as well as are undertaken responsibly – without undermining India’s national security interests or exploiting scarce spectrum resources. However, they aren’t guided by a clear policy framework to exercise this discretion. It has opened the loophole for subjective interpretation, coercion, arm-twisting and comiption.

Way Forward

• Simplification of Laws: The fact is that bureaucrats and ministers are only as confident and effective as the laws allow them to be. Simplification of law, re traction of subjective discretions and transparent policy framework will do away with the issue of delay, red-tapism, coercion, comiption and curtail the rise of frequent litigations which in turn usher in stable policy environment. In long term, it will improve the mutual trust between government and private players and increase the attractiveness of the sector for business and investment.
• Consolidated Regulatory Regime and Governance: Policy reform to consolidate the regulatory architecture related to space sector and minimization of contacts in its governance is of utmost importance. Single window clearance mechanism and one-point contact for governance can improve the ease of doing business in space economy.
• Plugging Loopholes: The gaps in the regulations that have caused many legal disputes and liabilities should be addressed at the earliest. As a result, the law will instil confidence in both business and bureaucrats that their interests will be protected, provided their approach will be reasonable and fair. Therefore, government should reform both the SATCOM policy of 2000 as well as the remote sensing datapolicy of 2011 to avoid risk aversion, policy paralysis and promote reasonable and fair decision making by bureaucrats.