New Delhi, July 23 India has partnered with more than 60 nations for space technologies and satellite communication, said Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, in the Parliament’s ongoing Monsoon Session on Wednesday.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Singh shared details of India's space technology collaborations as well as support given to the private sector to launch large-scale missions in space.
“Space cooperative documents have been signed with 61 countries and five multilateral bodies. The major areas of collaborations are satellite remote sensing, satellite navigation, satellite communication, space science, planetary exploration, and capacity building,” Singh said.
He noted that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is already working with NASA for NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), slated to launch later this month.
The Indian space agency is also working with CNES (French National Space Agency) for a joint satellite mission named ‘TRISHNA (Thermal Infrared Imaging Satellite for High Resolution Natural Resource Assessment)’, which is in the initial stages.
ISRO and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) have carried out a feasibility study to realise a joint lunar polar exploration mission. ISRO also collaborated with NASA and Axiom Space for sending its astronaut to the International Space Station, Singh said.
Further, the MoS highlighted the opening up of the space industry to the private sector and the launch of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), enabling the latter to launch large-scale space missions.
He also mentioned the rollout of the Indian Space Policy, 2023, to foster a thriving space ecosystem.
In addition, various schemes such as the technology adoption fund, venture capital fund for the space sector, seed fund scheme, pricing support, mentorship, and technical labs were introduced to support startups and Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) in the space sector.
The government also “signed 79 MoUs with NGEs and issued 77 authorisations” till March, Singh said.
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