Position Papers

 PDF A Gain for the Country, with many lessons learned, but a Talent Challenge for ISRO Takeaways India’s NewSpace sector is transitioning from early-stage emergence to a structurally significant component of the national space economy. This shift is creating both opportunity and tension within the broader ecosystem. India’s private space sector is expanding rapidly across launch systems, satellites, propulsion, and downstream services, with over 150 space startups registered in India as of 2024, signaling a maturing industrial base built on the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) foundational capabilities. ISRO remains the core enabler of India’s space ecosystem, having executed more than 430 spacecraft missions and 100+ launch missions, while also developing the engineering culture, product development tools, a PLM ecosystem, and talent pipeline that underpin current private-sector growth. The rise of NewSpace companies is strengthening India’s global competitiveness, with the sector attracting US$1.5–2 billion in cumulative private investment in the last decade, but it is also