ISRO Chief Discusses Growing Interest in Private Space Ventures: Dr Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, the Chairman of ISRO, noted a significant rise in interest among young entrepreneurs in India to establish private space companies akin to SpaceX. This enthusiasm has been fuelled by successful suborbital launches from start-ups like Skyroot and Agnikul, which have inspired many to pursue rocket-building challenges. Dr. Somanath expressed excitement about the number of individuals reaching out to him with aspirations to develop larger rockets, emphasizing the potential for innovation in India's space sector.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is actively supporting the growth of various start-ups within the space economy, including Agnikul Cosmos and Pixxel. Dr Somanath highlighted that India's current contribution to the global space economy is less than 2%, with ambitions to increase this share to at least 10% over the next two decades. He stated that a focus on downstream capabilities—such as satellite services and applications—will be crucial for driving overall sector growth.

The ISRO chief outlined plans for developing next-generation launch vehicles with significantly higher payload capacities at reduced costs. He also discussed the Gaganyaan Mission, India's first human spaceflight program, aiming for its first crewed mission by 2026. Additionally, he mentioned long-term goals such as a human landing on the moon by 2040.

During his address at the Bangalore Tech Summit, Dr. Somanath emphasized Bangalore's emerging space ecosystem and a major supplier of components for satellite programs and highlighted the Karnataka government's draft Space Technology Policy aimed at capturing 50% of India's national market share in space technologies.