The Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has started authorising private firms in India. Digantara Research & Technologies Pvt. Ltd. from Bengaluru and Dhruva Space Pvt. Ltd. from Hyderabad have become the first two startups to be authorised by IN-SPACe to launch their payloads.
On June 30, the payloads would fly onboard the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) of PSLV-C53.
"Dhruva Space's Dhruva Space Satellite Orbital Deployer (DSOD 1U), a technology demonstration payload, and Digantara's ROBust Integrating Proton Fluence Meter (ROBI), a Proton dosimeter payload, were authorised," an IN-SPACe statement said on Monday.
"The first two launch authorisations issued by IN-SPACe is an important milestone and marks the beginning of private space sector launches in India," said IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka.
Space startups get flying wings
Dhruva Space is a space technology start-up involved in building application-agnostic satellite platforms whereas Digantara research and technologies are engaged in the development of end-to-end solutions focused on safe and sustainable space operations through its Space Situational Awareness sensor network, platform and data products.
PSLV-C53 is the 55th mission of ISRO's scheduled to be launched on June 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 18:00 hours IST. Digantara will launch a weather satellite which will be used for weather monitoring from space using their patented technology. On the other hand, Dhruva Space will test its Satellite deployer technology which in future can be deployed for international customers.
"This is just the start of the exciting times ahead for the Indian space sector. IN-SPACe is delighted to facilitate (the) private sector's participation in this journey," Goenka added.
What Indian space entrepreneurs believe
Dhruva Space CEO, Sanjay Nekkanti the PSLV C53 mission is a key milestone in the journey of his start-up. "The mission will demonstrate the in-house developed CubeSat Deployers ahead of the launch of our Satellite Missions, Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2, onboard the PSLV C54 Mission. This will also enable Dhruva Space to support international clients with CubeSat Deployers, Integration and Launch Services," he said.
"To realise Digantara's goal of delivering accurate orbital insights to ensure continued safe space operations, support from the government will play a key role in accelerating innovations. This launch serves as an excellent illustration of how much support hastens innovation," CEO and Co-founder Digantara, Anirudha N Sharma said.
Meanwhile, the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), which is a part of ISRO, has organised a three-day training course on 'Bhuvan' portal utilisation. Bhuvan is a Geoportal platform of ISRO.
It hosts a wide range of services spanning visualisation of satellite data, thematic maps, query and analysis, free data downloads and products, near real-time disaster services, apps for crowdsourcing, and diverse geospatial applications. It also supports the ministries with G-Governance applications.
"The training is free, webinar-based, and scheduled for July 12-14, 2022. It targets to benefit undergraduate and postgraduate students, professionals in government organisations, start-ups, private firms etc," an ISRO statement said.
Formed to promote, monitor and supervise the space activities of Non-Governmental Private Entities (NGPEs) in India, IN-SPACe is an autonomous, single-window nodal agency.
With inputs from PTI
