The year 2025 marked a decisive year for India’s space sector as policy reforms translated into tangible execution across launch, satellite manufacturing, Earth observation, space data, and satellite communications. The year saw contracts awarded, production lines established, satellites deployed, launch vehicles move closer to operational readiness, and data-driven services scale across civilian, commercial, and strategic domains. India’s space economy, currently valued at approximately USD 9 billion, is now on a clear trajectory towards USD 44 billion in the coming decade. Growth during 2025 was driven largely by private industry, enabled by policy continuity, institutional clarity and an expanding public–private partnership framework.
Public–Private Partnerships Move from Policy to Practice
Public–private partnerships emerged as a central operating model across the space value chain in 2025. Policy instruments including the New Space Policy 2023, liberalised FDI Policy 2024, and implementation of the Indian Telecommunications Act 2023 provided predictability for long-term private investment.
In Earth observation, IN-SPACe’s Build–Own–Operate framework began transitioning into implementation, signalling a shift in how satellite infrastructure and data services are developed and commercialised. Under the PPP push by IN-SPACe, the Pixxel consortium, led by Pixxel with partners Dhruva Space, PierSight, and SatSure, won a major Indian government contract of ₹1,200 crore to build and operate a 12-satellite network of India’s first commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation. The LVM3 public–private partnership model also advanced, with ISRO working closely with industry to scale heavy-lift launch vehicle production for commercial missions.
Moving on, India’s first fully indigenously manufactured PSLV by HAL–L&T-led consortium is expected to be launched in early 2026, marking a major step in industrialising India’s launch capabilities.
Expanding Startup Ecosystem and Industry Collaboration
India’s share of the global space economy, currently estimated at around 2 percent, is projected to increase to nearly 8 percent by 2033, driven primarily by private industry. Liberalised FDI norms and IN-SPACe’s single-window authorisation framework supported increased participation by both domestic and international players. India’s space ecosystem crossed an important scale milestone in 2025, with over 300 active space startups now operating across launch vehicles, satellite platforms, Earth observation, satellite communications, propulsion, electronics, space situational awareness and downstream analytics.
The year also saw a rise in industry-led collaborations across the ecosystem. Notable partnerships announced in 2025 included Kepler Aerospace with Astrome on satellite swarm communications, Pixxel integrating Dhruva Space’s Solis+ solar panels for its hyperspectral constellation, and Dhruva Space partnering with SatSure to deliver integrated Earth observation solutions. Additional collaborations included Bellatrix Aerospace with Skyroot Aerospace on propulsion systems, Ananth Technologies with Digantara on space situational awareness, and Azista working with Kepler Aerospace on satellite platforms.
National Missions and Strategic Capabilities
India’s national missions continued to reinforce scientific and strategic credibility during 2025. The NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission launched in July, providing advanced SAR capabilities for global land, ice, and ecosystem monitoring. Chandrayaan-3 continued post-landing scientific operations following its south polar mission, while the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter sustained high-value lunar observations. Aditya-L1 began releasing calibrated data sets to the global scientific community, strengthening India’s contribution to solar and heliophysics research. India also achieved a major technological milestone with the successful SpaDeX docking demonstration, placing the country among a small group of nations with autonomous rendezvous and docking capabilities.
ISRO Operational Milestones
ISRO recorded several operational achievements that reinforced confidence across the space ecosystem, with the completion of its 100th launch from Sriharikota in January this year, underscoring launch reliability and operational depth. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla travelled to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission, marking an important milestone for India’s human spaceflight programme. Progress on in-orbit robotics experiments aboard POEM-4 and steady preparations for uncrewed Gaganyaan missions further strengthened India’s human spaceflight roadmap, supported by increased industry participation.
Private Sector Progress and Commercial Deployment
India’s private space companies advanced from demonstration to deployment in 2025. Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos continued progressing private orbital and semi-cryogenic launch systems, contributing to the development of a competitive domestic launch market. PM Modi recently unveiled Skyroot’s Vikram-I launch vehicle and the Infinity Campus. HAL won the bid to manufacture and commercialise the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), establishing a new model for industry-led launch services.
Pixxel launched India’s first private satellite constellation, the Firefly series, using SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets in early and mid-2025, deploying a total of six hyperspectral satellites for high-resolution Earth imaging. Digantara expanded its space situational awareness infrastructure by successfully launching its first commercial space surveillance satellite ‘SCOT’, while companies including Bellatrix Aerospace, ThrustWrks, OmSpace, Xovian, and GalaxEye demonstrated operational capabilities across propulsion, launch subsystems, and imaging platforms.
Space Data, Earth Observation, and National Infrastructure
The space data economy gained momentum in 2025, with Earth observation data supporting agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure planning, climate monitoring, and defence applications. Policy support was reinforced in the Union Budget 2025–26 through initiatives such as the National Geospatial Mission, a Fund of Funds for startups, enhanced credit guarantee mechanisms, expansion of Atal Tinkering Labs, and a dedicated DeepTech Fund of Funds. IN-SPACe’s Technology Adoption Fund, launched in February, focused on indigenization and manufacturing scale-up. Several states also announced space-focused policies, indicating growing alignment across national and state-level priorities.
This year, the critical Operation Sindoor showcased India’s evolving space capabilities. We leveraged indigenous assets like Cartosat-2C for precise high-resolution targeting and RISAT for all-weather surveillance, augmented by commercial satellite imagery from leading Indian companies. This integration delivered real-time ISR, target verification, and post-strike analysis, affirming space sector’s critical role in contemporary operations. It also underscored the need for expanded constellations to address tactical coverage gaps, prompting the government to fast-track the SBS Phase 3 programme: launching 52 dedicated satellites for the armed forces, with 31 of them to be built by three Indian private companies.
Satellite Communications and Regulatory Progress
Satellite communications saw meaningful regulatory movement during the year. TRAI issued recommendations on satellite spectrum pricing and remained firm on providing clarity on administrative allocation, shared access and pricing.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) removed numerical caps on SATCOM users, linking authorisations to capacity cleared by IN-SPACe. Draft authorisation rules and the issuance of GMPCS licences signalled progress toward commercial SATCOM deployment, alongside expansion of gateway and ground infrastructure. The space industry awaits the government’s final spectrum decision, enabling satcom players like OneWeb with ready infrastructure to launch services without delay. Any further delay is a huge opportunity cost and we urge the government to take speedy action on this further helping to bridge digital divide and kickstart 6G-era connectivity.
Investment and Institutional Support
Private space startups in India raised nearly USD 150 million during FY 2025 taking the total funding to over USD 617 million till date. The operationalisation of the ₹1,000 crore IN-SPACe Venture Capital Fund and approval of the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme added long-term depth to the funding ecosystem for space and deep-tech innovation. IN-SPACe’s Technology Adoption Fund for INR 500 Cr., launched this year, will definitely boost private sector space innovation by funding startups/MSMEs (up to 60% cost) to develop commercially viable, early-stage space technologies.
By the end of 2025, India’s space sector had moved firmly into an execution-led phase. While challenges remain in manufacturing scale, long-term capital access, and assured demand, the year established a clear foundation for sustained growth, deeper industry participation, and India’s expanding role in the global space economy.
Guest Contributor
Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd.)
Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA)
