The New York Times praised India’s ambitious space program and said the country, which is currently witnessing an “explosive” growth of space technology start-ups, is poised to “transform the planet’s connection to the final frontier” and could emerge as a counterweight to China.
“When it launched its first rocket in 1963, India was a poor country engaged in the most advanced technology in the world. This projectile, whose nose cone delivered a wheel to the launch pad, carried a small payload 124 miles above the Earth. It hardly pretends to keep up with by the US and the Soviet Union. In today’s space race, India has found a much more secure footing,” said a leading American newspaper.
The article titled ‘The Surprising Striver in the World’s Space Business’ states that India has become home to at least 140 registered space technology start-ups, “comprising a local research field that is transforming the planet’s connectivity to the final frontier”.
“The growth of start-ups has been explosive, jumping from five when the pandemic began. And they see a large market to serve,” the paper said. The NYT report highlighted that India’s “importance as a scientific powerhouse” was taking center stage, cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington last month at the invitation of President Joe Biden, and a joint statement issued by the two sides said the two leaders “set a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation.
“One of India’s advantages is geopolitical,” the paper said, adding that Russia and China have historically offered cheaper launch options.
“But the war in Ukraine has all but ended Russia’s role as a competitor,” it said, citing the $230 million hit British satellite start-up OneWeb took after Russia seized 36 of its spacecraft in September. Another constellation of OneWeb satellites was launched into orbit by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
“Also, the US government would be more likely to approve sending military technology to any American company through India than through China,” the NYT said.
He added that “Since June 2020, when Mr. Modi announced a push for the space sector and opened it up to all kinds of private enterprise, India has launched a network of ventures, each powered by original research and homegrown talent. space startups have received $120 million in new investment, at a pace that is doubling or tripling annually.” The NYT report mentions Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace and aerospace manufacturer Dhruva Space.
“Skyroot and Dhruva operate in relatively sexy satellite launch and delivery sectors, but together they account for only 8 percent of India’s space business pie.
“A much larger portion comes from companies that specialize in collecting data transmitted by satellite,” the report said, citing the example of Bengaluru-based startup Pixxel, co-founded by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, which has “a contract with a secret agency in the Pentagon. ” Pixxel has developed an imaging system to detect patterns on the Earth’s surface that lie outside the range of normal color vision.
Describing India as a “thriving center of innovation” and “one of the most competitive startup locations in the world,” the NYT article notes that space technology startups are one of India’s “most sought-after sectors” for venture capitalists and their growth “has been explosive, jumped from five when the pandemic started”.
Terming India’s vendor ecosystem is “staggering in size”, the NYT reported that years of doing business with ISRO had created “about 400 private companies in clusters around Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and elsewhere, each dedicated to making specialty screws, sealants and other appropriate products.” for space.” India has plenty of engineers available, but their smaller salaries alone cannot beat the competition. So an Indian company like Skyroot is focusing on more specialized services, the paper said.
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