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Speaking at CNBC-TV18’s Global Leadership Summit 2025 in Mumbai on Friday, November 7, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said: “As Secretary of the Department of Space, it is my responsibility to ‘handhold’ them and ensure that the space ecosystem in the country grows as per the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
He said: “When space sector reforms were initiated, barely a few start-ups were active. Even though 450 industries were contributing to our programme, they were only doing vendor-like work. But today, around 330 start-ups are building launchers, satellites and using satellite data for the benefit of the common man in real time.”
A growing private ecosystem
V Narayanan explained how initiatives like the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACE), established about three years ago, are helping to promote, authorize and supervise private participation in the space sector.
He said the government is supporting this effort with financial incentives, a technology adoption fund, venture capital of ₹1,000-1,500 crore and shared technical facilities to support start-ups.
“The government cannot do everything alone – the private sector has to participate in this. The people who have worked with us have never suffered a loss.”
V Narayanan also said that 80-85% of the funding to develop the LVM3 rocket was given to Indian private and public undertakings, which shows how deeply the domestic industry is involved in ISRO’s programmes.
Ambitions beyond the classroom
The ISRO chief said India’s space economy is currently about $8.2 billion and is projected to grow to $44 billion by 2033. The global space economy is about $630 billion today and could reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, he said – and ISRO aims to increase India’s share from 2% to 8%.
He also highlighted ISRO’s latest achievement: On November 2, India successfully launched its heaviest ever communications satellite, CMS-03, weighing 4,400 kg, using an LVM3 “Baahubali” rocket.
“This was the eighth consecutive success for the completely made-in-India LVM3,” he said. “Twelve years ago, we had to go abroad for such launches. Today, our launcher has achieved 100% reliability.”
Building for Viksit Bharat 2047
V Narayanan said the space sector will play a major role in achieving a developed India 2047, which will include applications such as internet connectivity, disaster management and food and water security.
“To become a developed nation, India needs at least 50-60 launch missions per year,” he said, increasing from 12 annually currently. “We have built 134 satellites so far, of which 56 are currently active in orbit – this number should triple in the next two to three years.”
“India’s space story is no longer just about launches – it is about building a self-sustaining ecosystem that contributes to the country’s growth story.”
Narayanan also said that India aims to send a crewed mission by 2040 and to realize that goal, the country must have a launch vehicle with a capacity of at least 40,000 kg. Further, for the India Space Station (BAS), ISRO is considering a cost of approx. to ₹12,000 crore ₹15,000 crore and the first module has been completely funded by the government, the scientist said.