Oct 11, 2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Indian Space Association (ISPA) and said India would ensure that the space sector unites the world.
He said India needs to ensure that space plays a key role in uniting the world in the 21st century.
He said that reforms in the space sector are based on four pillars: freedom of innovation in the private sector, empowerment of government, preparing youth for the future and seeing the space sector as a tool for development of the common man.
PM Modi further said that earlier the space sector was limited to the government only. However, “we changed that mindset and introduced innovation in the field. We brought together government and startups because this is a time of exponential innovation, not linear innovation.”
Talking about India’s capability in this field, PM Modi said that India is one of the few countries that has mastered the search for launching space vehicles, satellites and interplanetary exploration. “We need to strengthen the brand value of efficiency and affordability and we need to be part of the space system supply chain from end to end. As a partner government will support industry, young innovators, startups.”
Space technology has been used as a tool for final mail delivery, leak-free and transparent governance. The Prime Minister said that from the use of geo-tagging to satellite monitoring, assistance to fishermen, disaster management planning, space technology is helping in good governance.
“The space sector is a means of development for the common man and aims to provide better mapping, imaging and communication. Provide better speed to business people, better forecasting, security and revenue for the agricultural sector, natural disasters. Predicting and saving lives and livelihoods, ”PM Modi added.
He said that with the ongoing reforms in the sector, the government aims to increase the participation of women in the sector. Meanwhile, the government is in the final stages of finalizing a policy on remote sensing.
The association plans to undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain, including the government and its agencies. The agency will help in making India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena.
The Founding members include Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Bharti Airtel, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited. Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics, Maxar India.
Lt Gen Anil Bhatt (Retd) has been appointed the director-general of the new body.
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