Private Sector to Build Communication Satellite in India

New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) India's space regulator on Wednesday offered an orbital slot to private sector companies to build and operate a communications satellite to provide services in diverse sectors such as telephone, television, radio and internet.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) released an Announcement of Opportunity for making available Indian Orbital Resources to the Non-Government Entities (NGEs).

INSPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka said the initiative underscores the government's commitment to empower talented Indian NGEs with the resources and support they need to succeed and contribute to India's journey to leadership in the global space economy.

The announcement of opportunity aims to identify an applicant with Indian management and control and having the requisite technical and financial capabilities to own, establish and operate a Geostationary Orbit satellite for providing communication services.

"This Announcement of Opportunity is a game-changing opportunity for NGEs to participate in the global space economy and establish a world-class communication satellite system," Goenka said.

The last date for submission of the application is September 15, 2024.

Recently, the INSPACe also asked the private entities to come forward to build and manage a space-based Earth Observation (EO) system under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The proposal encompasses NGEs to design, build and establish a constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit having a combination of sensors, including panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral and microwave.

It will also involve NGEs launching the satellites onboard Indian launch vehicles, monitoring and controlling the spacecraft health, and payload data download by establishing and operating their own ground stations or through Ground Stations as a Service (GSaaS) provider.

The IN-SPACe has also granted authorization to Azista BST Aerospace Private Limited, Hyderabad, for the establishment and operation of a ground station in UHF frequency bands.

With this authorization, Azista BST Aerospace Pvt Ltd will support its own satellites and provide Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) for Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C) operations and data reception from remote sensing satellites to both Indian and international customers.