ISRO chief V Narayanan calls for greater industry role to scale India’s space sector

India’s space ambitions cannot be met by ISRO alone, Chairman V Narayanan said, as the country prepares for a sharp increase in demand for satellites and launches.

Speaking at the ninth Bengaluru Space Expo, Narayanan said India currently has 56 space assets serving from orbit. He said the country would need to build and launch at least 200 to 300 satellites over the next six to seven years, a task that “cannot be done only by ISRO.”

He said government reforms had opened the sector to private participation. IN-SPACe authorises private space activities, while NewSpace India Limited supports their commercialisation. Narayanan also stressed that Indian companies already play a major role in the national programme. Around 80% of the budget for a rocket launch goes to Indian industry, he said, describing the sector’s progress as a partnership involving industry and academia.

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cannot be done only by ISRO

India’s private space ecosystem now includes about 450 startups, according to Narayanan. Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe, said the number had risen from a single space startup in 2014, with more than $160 million in private capital entering the sector this year alone. He cited Skyroot Aerospace, which developed India’s first privately built rocket and later achieved orbital launch capability, as an example of cooperation between private companies, ISRO and IN-SPACe.

Narayanan said India’s launch frequency had risen from one mission every three years when he joined ISRO in 1984 to one a month today. The sector now needs about 50 launches a year, he said, urging all participants to work together. Goenka called for Indian companies to move up the value chain and serve global markets, while encouraging international companies to use India for manufacturing and technology development.

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The partnership is India's real strength. The depth of a national space agency built over six decades, now working hand in hand with a young and ambitious private industry. ISRO and industry are rising together