Over 20 businesses have expressed initial interest in the Indian government’s efforts to privatise a portion of its space programme by opening bids to construct its small satellite launch rocket, reported the news agency Reuters.

This bid to take over the manufacturing and development of the SSLV rocket programme was the first privatisation of its kind for India.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), and its first successful satellite launch was done in February this year.

“With today’s successful launch, India has got a new launch vehicle which was aimed to commercialise the small satellite launches through Industry on-demand basis. ISRO looks forward for catering to the increasing global need of launching smaller satellites into Space,” said ISRO after the launch on February 10.

The SSLV was created as a low-cost way to put satellites into low-Earth orbit weighing up to 500 kg (1,102 lb), supporting a booming market for the launch of clusters of satellites for communications and data that SpaceX and other competitors now offer.

India is following the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) lead in launching this and other space-related businesses to private investment under a policy driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India has recently created a space regulatory body, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, known as IN-SPACe, which will open the bidding process on July 11 by allowing qualified companies to register for the process.

Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe, said 20 companies had submitted an “expression of interest” (EOI) in the rocket programme, reported Reuters.

INSPACe will have a pre-EOI consultation with these 20 applicants within two weeks, Goenka told Reuters.

However, Goenka did not share the names of the companies.

The eligibility for the companies to bid for the opportunity is that they have to be profitable, and the lead bidder in a consortium has to have at least five years of manufacturing experience and annual revenue of $ 48.8 million.

Within the next ten years, India aims to grow its market share in satellite launches globally by fivefold.

Previously, Goenka said that the regulator expects that the winning bidder for the SSLV programme would be able to develop the small-satellite launch business and make India “the global hub for such launches.”

https://www.businesstoday.in/amp/latest/in-focus/story/india-offers-to-privatise-small-satellite-launch-rocket-already-have-20-potential-bidders-report-391508-2023-07-27