Policy continuity and institutional clarity by the government and an expanding public-private partnership framework led to the growth of India's private space sector in 2025, said Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA) on Tuesday.

Bhatt noted that 2025 was marked as a decisive year for India’s space sector as policy reforms translated into tangible execution across launch, including satellite manufacturing, Earth observation, space data, and satellite communications.

“Growth during 2025 was driven largely by the private industry. 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,” the expert said.

India’s space economy, currently valued at approximately $9 billion, is now on a clear trajectory towards $44 billion in the coming decade.

Public-private partnerships emerged as a central operating model across the space value chain in 2025. India’s share of the global space economy, currently estimated at around 2 per cent, is projected to increase to nearly 8 per cent by 2033, driven primarily by private industry.

“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,” Bhatt said.

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,” Bhatt said.

Further, India’s private space companies advanced from demonstration to deployment in 2025. Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos continued to progress 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.

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.

Meanwhile, 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, Bhatt said.

Private space startups in India raised nearly $150 million during FY 2025, taking the total funding to over $617 million to date.

The operationalisation of the Rs 1,000 crore IN-SPACe Venture Capital Fund and approval of the Rs 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 Rs 500 crore, launched this year, will also boost private sector space innovation by funding startups/MSMEs (up to 60 per cent cost) to develop commercially viable, early-stage space technologies, Bhatt said.