Amidst the corona epidemic, good news has come from India's space technology sector. The number of private space firms in India has grown to over 350. This number puts India in fifth place in the world, which is more than Japan, China, and Russia already working in this field.
Of the 10,000-odd firms analyzed as part of the global report, which forecasts the space tech economy to be $500 trillion by 2025, more than 5,500 are in the US, followed by the UK, Canada, and Germany. The report listed 368 firms in India compared to 288, 269, and 206 in China, France, and Spain respectively. Japan and Russia have 184 and 56 firms respectively.
ISRO Chairman K Sivan said, "There has been a good response from both large and small firms associated with the space industry. The number of proposals in space (IN-SPACe) has also increased by almost 30 percent compared to the end of 2020. Globally, most companies (2,820) are in navigation and mapping, followed by 1,000 manufacturing firms, 718 space communication, remote sensing (211), aerial imaging (152), according to SpaceTech Analytics report 'SpaceTech Industry 2021/Q2 Landscape Overview' ), spacecraft development (80), space travel (58), and space medicine (48).
Jayakumar Venkatesan, CEO of Wallace Marineris International, which helps train global astronauts through its partners in Russia, says that "the model ISRO is following should change to the US". If we want to grow the industry then we cannot have a vendor-customer relationship model, it has to be partnership-based.
The report, which forecasts the space tech economy to touch $10 trillion by 2030 from the current $380 billion, has also analyzed investments made in such companies during the said quarter. It has reviewed 10,000 firms, 5,000 investors, 150 R&D hubs and associations as well as 130 government organizations worldwide.