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Table 10: Number of Satellite Launches by Country

Country 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
USA 20 22 29 31 19
Russia 29 19 20 20 25

China 19 22 18 39 34
European Space Agency 9 9 9 8 6
India 5 7 5 7 6
Japan 4 4 7 6 2
Others 3 2 2 3 10
Total 89 85 90 114 102

Source: ISRO.

Box 2: Prospects for commercialization and attracting private
investment in the space sector

India’s space programme is one of the most well-developed in the world and has achieved
numerous successes through its state-owned agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) which is responsible for driving the space activities in India. With the long term
vision of making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced, the Government
in June 2020, opened up the Space sector enabling the participation of Indian private
sector in the entire gamut of space activities. New Space India Limited (NSIL), a Central
Public Sector Enterprise under Department of Space, has been mandated to transfer the
technologies emanating out of Indian space programme and enable Indian industry to scale
up high-technology manufacturing base. Government of India has also established Indian
National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) for promoting industries
and attracting investment in space sector. Further, ISRO would be sharing its infrastructure,
transfer technology know-how for production and spin-off. These measures would help India
become a manufacturing hub of space assets.
As per industry estimates, there are more than 40 start-ups working in India with funding,
teams and structure on space and satellite projects complimenting the efforts of government.
This number is likely to increase in coming years with technology to play a big role. The
recent reforms announced by Government of India for unlocking the space potential of India
stresses the need to enable the private industry to be the co-traveller in India’s space journey.

As per Satellite Industry Association Report (2020), the global space economy in 2019 was
pegged at US$ 366 billion, growing by about 1.7 per cent over 2018. The commercial satellite
industry is accounting for nearly 75 per cent of global space business. Technology innovations
and demand drives the need for higher bandwidth capacity, throughput speeds, improved
optical, radar and thermal imaging. PwC estimates that the Indian space economy is valued at
US$ 7 billion, which is around 2 per cent of the global space economy.