New era in space exploration: India's moon landing & solar venture

It started from T-Hub, short for “technology hub”, an incubator based in Raidurg in Hyderabad, Telangana. Two former scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, came together to launch a private aerospace company from the incubator. They named it Skyroot Aerospace. Among those who lent support to the venture were Vasudevan Gnana Gandhi, pioneer of cryogenic rocket science in India, and a clutch of entrepreneurs.

This was five years ago, in July 2018. Space was beginning to open up for private entities like Skyroot, but only just. Then came the Moon landing on August 23, 2023, and sent the fortunes of spacetech firms skyrocketing.

Skyroot Aerospace has now become India’s highest funded spacetech startup, having raised $95 million (Rs789 crore) so far. The latest round of funding was in October, two months after the Moon touchdown, when it raised $27.5 million (Rs225 crore). 

In October, it also unveiled its second rocket, Vikram 1, which is expected to be launched early next year. The one before this South Asia’s first and to date only privately developed rocket — was launched in November 2022.

“The Chandrayaan-3 landing has turned the spotlight on India. Since the event, we have seen a lot of interest, both for investment and collaborations,” says Chandana, Skyroot’s co-founder and chief executive officer.

India is only the fourth country in the world — after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China — to have achieved a soft landing on the Moon. And so far, it is the only to have landed on the lunar south pole. Moon was just one milestone the country achieved this year. Barely a week after the landing, on September 2, it reached another with the successful launch of its maiden observation mission, Aditya-L1, destined for the Sun, from the Isro space centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. These triumphs have served as catalysts, invigorating the aspirations of burgeoning space startups. Skyroot is now preparing for Vikram 1’s orbital and commercial launch. 

According to the Indian Space Association (ISpA), till November-end, Indian space startups amassed $124 million in funding, compared to $120 million in 2022. The year welcomed 54 new such startups, taking the total to 204 and marking a significant surge from 82 startups in 2020.

“The success of Chandrayaan, followed by the Aditya mission, re-established India’s capability in space, which had a follow-through effect, even for the private sector,” says A K Bhatt, director general, ISpA. India's cooperation with other countries also grew at a faster pace during the year, he says. “Our cooperation with the US and France was more significant. The signing of critical emerging technologies and Artemis Accords were major milestones,” he adds.

The Artemis Accords signed in June marked India’s 27th country collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and Isro in space exploration. This is expected to help India’s private space players expand their presence globally, boosting India’s efforts to increase its footprint in the space economy. 

“This high price point won’t give enough volumes to Tesla to justify building a plant in India. It is highly likely that Tesla will test the Indian market by introducing more affordable models. If, even after that, the company doesn’t find the market appealing, it might depart after leveraging years of duty cuts,” the official said.

Though Tesla is not divulging details of its plans regarding pricing and production timelines, it has agreed to provide a bank guarantee for the proposed investment, albeit with certain conditions. “They have agreed to provide a bank guarantee but have demanded to include their charging infrastructure and dealership network in the investment calculation,” the official said.

Presently, India only recognises the investment made in constructing plants and machinery as eligible investment.

The delay also stems from a directive issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the nodal ministry leading negotiations with Tesla, instructing it to analyse the average car prices in India in comparison to other global markets. It has also asked the ministry to assess whether substantial duty cuts could potentially impact India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

“The PMO raised concerns about the challenges that could arise from a duty cut,” another person aware of the development said, requesting anonymity. “There hasn’t been any progress towards reaching a deal since the meeting with the PMO, which took place a month ago,” the person added.

Another contentious issue is the EV giant’s request to permit the import of its completely built-up (CBU) units at the duty rates applicable to completely knocked down (CKD) units. Presently, fully assembled CBUs exceeding $40,000 incur a 100 per cent tax, while those below $40,000 face a 70 per cent charge. In contrast, CKD units, involving reassembly in the destination country, are subjected to a 15 per cent import duty.

If Tesla receives the CKD duty rate and decides to launch its proposed $25,000 (Rs20 lakh) car in India, it would not only enter the luxury car market but also compete within India’s mid-range and premium car segments. Although the MG Comet stands as the most affordable electric car offered by a prominent automotive player in India at Rs7.98 lakh, the average price of EV cars in India typically ranges between Rs12 lakh and Rs15 lakh.

Tata Motors, the leader in India’s EV market, sells its highest-selling Nexon EV priced between Rs14.74 lakh and Rs19.94 lakh. Tata reached a milestone in June by selling 50,000 units of the Nexon since its launch in January 2020. From the launch of the Nexon until it achieved the 50,000 sales mark, a total of 86,000 electric cars were sold in India. Nexon contributed 60 units to this number, according to an analysis of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ Vahan Dashboard data. The EV market share in the country’s car segment is approximately 2 per cent of the roughly 3.5 million cars sold in CY23.

The nod to OneWeb India from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to launch Eutelsat OneWeb’s commercial satellite broadband services further bolstered India’s prominence in global connectivity. OneWeb India is the country’s first organisation to receive this authorisation. Eutelsat OneWeb is a low Earth orbit (LEO) operator.

The approval to OneWeb India is a critical step towards achieving the country’s ambition of providing universal connectivity and realising the vision of a Digital India, says an official from Eutelsat OneWeb.
 

“We saw the completion of our LEO constellation as a result of the successful launches from Isro and NSIL (NewSpace India Ltd). We now have more than 630 satellites in orbit delivering broadband around the world,” the official says. NSIL, a public sector undertaking under the government’s Department of Space, is responsible for producing, assembling and integrating launch vehicles with the help of industry consortium.
 

The official adds, “OneWeb and Eutelsat also successfully completed a merger, creating the world’s first GEO-LEO satellite operator with India’s Bharti as the largest shareholder in the merged entity.” 
 

Amidst these milestones, the year unveiled a game-changing Indian Space Policy in April 2023. “This is a landmark policy because it allows the private sector to have presence in all possible categories – launching, communication, application and even carrying out asteroid mining in the future,” Bhatt says. “The FDI (foreign direct investment) policy,” he adds, “is critical for the development of space and is in its final stages.”
 

 The policy lays down the roadmap for Isro’s transition from an organisation manufacturing operational space systems to the research and development of advanced technologies. It also allows Indian consumers of space technology or services (such as communication, remote sensing, data-services, launch-services, etc) to procure them directly from any source, private or public. Besides startups, the policy is expected to be a booster for startups and around 1,500 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). 
 

Besides all of this, Isro’s upcoming spaceport dedicated to small satellite launch vehicles (SSLVs) in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, spanning 2,000 acres, promises to provide a crucial commercial platform for private sector players.

Given how space-related ventures are being propelled into prominence,  major industrial players are aggressively foraying into the sector. 
 

Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) has tied up with Satellogic Inc, a North Carolina-headquartered company that specialises in Earth-observation satellites, to develop local space technologies. And the HAL-L&T consortium is all set to come up with polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) rockets.

As 2023 draws to a close, experts agree that it will be etched as a golden year for the Indian space sector, signalling a transformative era characterised by innovation, collaboration and growing opportunities.