Every kid who grew up watching rocket launches on a grainy television knows the dream. India put that dream into orbit with Chandrayaan-3. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi is telling the country’s space startups to dream even bigger.
On National Space Day, PM Modi interacted with startup CEOs from the space sector and said these companies have shown their trust in the government. He urged the founders to stay consistent in their efforts and build a robust space-sector ecosystem that can attract talent from across the world.
“India is highly competitive in terms of cost, and have quality talent with a strong risk-taking capacity. This combination gives the country the potential to establish itself rapidly as a leading player in the global space sector,” PM Modi said during the interaction.
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Skyroot Aerospace thanks PM for opening up the sector
During the interaction, CEO of India’s first space-tech unicorn Skyroot Aerospace, Pawan Kumar Chandana, thanked PM Modi for opening up the space sector. He said his company has built three factories and already has the capacity to produce one rocket per month.
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Mr Chandana added that on 18 July this year, the company successfully launched India’s first privately developed rocket.
Why National Space Day matters
National Space Day is observed on August 23 to commemorate the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s south polar region in 2023. India became the first country to achieve a soft landing near the lunar south pole, and the Pragyan rover was deployed to conduct scientific experiments.
The third National Space Day celebrations were held in Ahmedabad with Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan and IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka in attendance. Narayanan recalled that India once moved rocket parts on old bicycles, and today the country is among the top in several space areas.
A bigger space future
PM Modi said an enabling environment must be created where people from across the world see India as the preferred destination to build their careers in the space sector. With private players launching rockets and building factories, India’s space story is no longer just about ISRO. The next chapter belongs to the startups.