The Minister emphasised that through building comprehensive capabilities in the fields of space transportation, debris management, infrastructure, and applications, innovative start-ups and private actors will strengthen the Department of Space's ability to protect India's interests in space

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently "unlocked" the Indian space sector, over 60 firms have registered with ISRO, according to Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh. While other start-up concepts range from nanosatellites, launch vehicles, ground systems, research, etc., "quite a few" of them are involved in projects relating to space debris control.

On Monday, at the ISRO Control Centre in Bengaluru, Singh officially launched the ISRO System for Safe & Sustainable Operation (IS4OM).

At the inauguration of IN-SPACe headquarters in Ahmedabad, the Prime Minister had only recently declared, "When the strength of government space institutions and the zeal of India's private sector meet, not even the sky will be the limit."

The union minister reaffirmed that through enhancing the Department of Space's ability to safeguard India's space interests by building all-around capabilities in the fields of space transportation, debris control, infrastructure, and applications.

According to Singh, the IS4OM service will help India reach its SSA (Space Situational Awareness) objectives by giving users thorough and timely information on the space environment. This multi-domain awareness platform will provide timely, precise, and actionable information on on-orbit collisions, fragmentation, atmospheric re-entry risk, space-based strategic intelligence, hazardous asteroids, and space weather forecast.

The facility is designed holistically to ensure safety and sustainability while gaining the advantages of sustainable space utilisation for national development, the minister highlighted.

According to Singh, the functioning spacecraft and space debris items have been protected against purposeful and unintentional close encounters by ISRO by taking the necessary precautions.

Identifying and monitoring other operational spacecraft with close approaches, having an overpass over the Indian region, intentional manoeuvres with dubious intentions, and re-entry within the Indian region are just a few of the strategic implications of space situational awareness activities, he continued.