Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Tuesday, 2 June 2026 shared a report projecting India's space economy as a key growth pillar of the country's overall economic architecture, drawing attention to ISRO's expanding role in what analysts describe as a structural shift in national space policy.

Context

The minister's post amplified a report projecting India's space economy to surge to $45 billion over the next decade, positioning the sector alongside manufacturing and digital services as a core contributor to national GDP. Dr. Jitendra Singh, who holds independent charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences and also serves in the Prime Minister's Office, has been the political face of India's space liberalisation drive since 2019.

The projection reflects a broader transformation: India has moved from a purely government-driven space model to one that actively courts private capital, domestic manufacturing, and downstream satellite services.

Policy Backdrop

The foundations for this trajectory were laid in June 2020, when the government announced sweeping reforms opening the space sector to private investment and ending ISRO's near-monopoly on launches and satellite development. The landmark Indian Space Policy 2023 subsequently defined clear roles for government agencies, academia, and private entities, authorising IN-SPACe — the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre — to issue licences for space activities.

NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), incorporated in 2019 as a government-owned commercial arm, was tasked with transferring ISRO technologies to industry and booking commercial launches on PSLV and the newer SSLV vehicles. Together, these institutional reforms created the scaffolding for private-sector participation at scale.

The push mirrors liberalisation seen in civil aviation and defence production under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, with an added national security dimension: a larger domestic industrial base for dual-use space capabilities.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of a surging space economy include private space startups, satellite communications service providers, and defence users who rely on indigenous satellite infrastructure. India's growing constellation of earth-observation and communication satellites has already attracted global interest from sovereign and commercial customers alike.

For domestic startups, the IN-SPACe licensing regime represents the clearest regulatory pathway yet to build, launch, and operate satellites commercially — a shift that industry bodies have long advocated. Broader economic linkages extend to sectors such as precision agriculture, urban planning, disaster management, and broadband connectivity in remote regions.

What's Next

Policy watchers will focus on the rollout of IN-SPACe's detailed licensing framework, the first fully private-sector launches of SSLV-class vehicles, and any dedicated space budget allocation or venture-fund announcement in the forthcoming Union Budget. Dr. Jitendra Singh's amplification of the $45-billion projection signals that the government intends to keep space sector momentum at the centre of its technology and economic narrative heading into the second half of the decade.

If the growth trajectory holds, India's space economy could emerge as one of the most significant new engines of high-technology employment and export revenue, reinforcing the country's ambition to capture a substantially larger share of the global space economy.