30 space missions planned from India in next 14 months

Chennai: A total of 30 space launches — commercial and non-commercial by government and private players– are being planned from India over the next 14 months from the Indian spaceport in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said on Thursday.

Included in the proposed missions are the test flights relating to India’s human space mission, Gaganyaan.

This was stated by IN-SPACe, the regulator for the private sector in the space industry, in its integrated launch manifesto using Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) infrastructure.

“About 30 launches are planned for 2023-24 (Q4) and 2024-25 from SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) half of which are catering to the commercial space sector of India with the rest being user-funded, scientific missions or technology test launches,” IN-SPACe said.

According to IN-SPACe, out of the 14 commercial missions identified, seven launches are being undertaken by NewSpace India Ltd — the commercial arm of Department of Space — including the realisation of two Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) from the L&T-HAL consortium.

This marks a substantial increase in launch activity compared to previous years and is a positive indicator of the expanding space ecosystem in the country.

This initiative aligns with the directives of the recently-ratified Indian Space Policy, entrusting IN-SPACe with authorisation of launch manifesto for launch-infrastructure created through public expenditure.

The launch manifesto comprehensively covers user-funded, scientific missions and other technology demonstration launches by ISRO along with the commercial launches and associated primary and co-sharing passengers.

“The Integrated Launch Manifesto is in line with Department of Space’s vision on optimising resources and encouraging innovation to establish India as a global manufacturing hub for space activities, aligning with the vision of ‘Aatmnirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India),” IN-SPACe said.

The key private sector rocket missions include planned Sub-Orbital and Orbital launches by Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace.

Few of the private sector satellites that would be flown are from Digantara Research & Technology, Dhruvaspace, Space Kidz India and academic institutes like IIT-Madras, Manipal Institute of Technology and C.V. Raman Global University Odisha, IN-SPACe said.

However, IN-SPACe will make every effort to accommodate any additional requirement of private players during this period.

As per the launch manifesto issued by IN-SPACe, the following space missions are slated before the end of this fiscal:

* PSLV C58 / ISRO Payload + POEM-3 with 9 payloads

* GSLV-F14 / ISRO Payload

* AGNIBAAN-SORTeD (Suborbital mission) – Agnikul Cosmos

* SSLV D3/ ISRO Primary Payload, Space Rickshaw and IIT-M Satellite.

During 2024-25, the space missions lined up are:

* ISRO/User-funded Space Missions:

* PSLV C60: ISRO Payload & POEM-4

* GSLV F15/ ISRO Payload

* PSLV C61/ ISRO Payload

* GSLV F16 /ISRO Payload