By Chaitali Bag
The second “Indian DefSpace Symposium 2024” was held at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi to increase cooperation between the Indian space and defence industries. Key stakeholders from the defence sector, DRDO, government entities, and industry professionals had the opportunity to network and collaborate during the three-day Indian DefSpace Symposium organized by the Indian Space Association (ISpA). The symposium focussed on the latest trends and challenges in the defence space sector.
Dignitaries from the ministries, defence, and space industry were present at the inaugural event, which was graced by Chief Guest Admiral R. Hari Kumar of the Indian Navy, Guest of Honour Dr. Samir V. Kamat of the DRDO, and other distinguished guests.
Experts from the defence and space sectors met for a number of seminars and panel discussions on all three days of the event, covering a broad variety of subjects such as sector difficulties, China’s defensive space capacity, and more.
“Up until 2020, we’ve been just about 2% of the global space commerce,” added Shri Jayant D Patil, Chairman of the Indian Space Association, in his welcoming speech. We have well-defined goals to attain $44 billion today. In my opinion, progress is possible when the space industry, end users, and specialists in the field work together. We are aware that the sector was opened in 2020, but the policy to activate it took some time and was not finalized until April 2023. The FDI regulations were declared a few weeks ago but were just notified yesterday. The remaining task is to finalize that policy, and that is the legislation. This will be taken care of by the incoming administration. My opinion is that we should all do it immediately upon the formation of the new administration. For the area to begin to be precisely controlled thereafter. Despite the existence of a regulator in the present day, that regulator does not have legal stability. The policy supports it, and we still have a ways to go before we can turn it into legislation.
General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff Indian Armed Forces, expressed his desire for space-related firms to achieve unicorn status and thrive as global partners. The Ministry of Defence and industry representatives collaborated to select winners of the IDEX Challenge, which has been announced. CDS urged the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to forge strong partnerships with the Indian space industry and startup community to create innovative solutions that close the technology gap between India and its enemies. He also emphasized the importance of establishing a scholarly and legal foundation for space capabilities, integrating space and cyber components, and ensuring interoperability with existing and future equipment. He believes that the forum will help brainstorm innovative ways to strengthen the country.
“We aspire to be AtmaNirbhar and I see the biggest congruence and convergence in action between space and the sea,” Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar remarked while addressing the opening session. In our dogged goal of becoming an Atmanirbhar force by 2047, the Bhartiya Nausena is aggressively seeking the help of our space industry partners. Reliable and secure communication, even in the most distant parts of our activity, is provided by satellite connectivity across the broad marine domain. Safe, secure, and stable seas for everyone are our top priorities, and high-bandwidth SATCOM lines make it possible to transmit speech, data, and video in real-time across several theatres of action, facilitating command, control, communication, and coordination. With its ability to provide real-time and responsive marine domain awareness, space technology has become an indispensable tool for enhancing maritime security. This includes real-time tracking of vessels, detection of illicit fishing, management of disasters, and protection of the environment. In the future, the collaboration between various space agencies and businesses, as well as programs like IDEX, which bring together academic institutions, businesses, and startups, could lead to even greater progress in fostering innovation and independence. I think our successful indigenization projects might serve as a model for the space industry, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and new businesses. Through our three-tier organization, the Naval Innovation and Indigenization Organisation (NIIO), Bhartiya Nausena has been collaborating with micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups, academia, students, innovators, and dreamers in an effort to advance technology, much like the innovations in the space sector through IDEX. Our great nation’s safety, security, and prosperity can be guaranteed by working together and embracing new technology, which will open up new horizons.
“Space situational awareness, space-based surveillance, launch on-demand capability are some areas where we need to develop capabilities further; these are critical areas,” said Dr. Samir V. Kamat, Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), during his speech on the inaugural day. With everyone’s help, we can do this. Space and defence cooperation is now going to be a major area of emphasis, which is encouraging news in and of itself. We are open to collaborating with businesses and startups and are prepared to support research and development efforts in this field. Along with the 75 challenges that are currently part of IDEX, we have a separate mechanism called the Technology Development Fund that may provide funding of up to 50 crores. Please feel free to contact us if you are aware of any worthwhile initiatives that include start-ups or MSMEs and if you are in possession of any suitable bids.
To move DefSpace ahead and achieve results for the users, or the services, Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt, DG of the Indian Space Association, stressed in his vote of appreciation the importance of concentrating on talks around the issues facing the initiative. In addition, he briefed the crowd on TASL’s recent launch of the Earth observation satellite, which was on display beside a 1:1 scale replica. The DG also briefed the crowd on Euroconsult’s research on the social effects of space, which ISRO had commissioned.
On the second day, at the valedictory session, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, gave a virtual speech. As the three-day symposium came to a close, Lt Gen V.G. Khandare PVSM AVSM SM, (Retd) Principal Adviser, MoD, delivered a thought leaders report during the closing ceremony on March 3. Following this, remarks were delivered by Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director of the VIF and Chairman of the National Advisory Committee of ISpA, and Ambassador Arun Singh (Retd), IFS, Distinguished Fellow of the VIF.
Those with a vested interest in strengthening India’s military space capacity and aspirations found a meeting place at the conference. Attendees from the defence, DRDO, and government sectors, as well as industry professionals, interacted and networked at this forum, which brought together specialists from several disciplines to discuss the current trends and issues in the field of defence space.
On the third day of the event, ISpA also inked a memorandum of understanding with MGF – Kavachh and Starburst.
The main aspects of the ISPA memorandum of understanding with MGF-Kavachh were
• Establish a foundation for future Institute-Industry relationships to support industrial internships and skill development; encourage cooperation between MGF-Kavachh and industry.
Subject to the approval of the -portfolio company, which has access to complementary assets and can engage in business development activities made possible by the two parties, facilitate the evaluation of portfolio firms.
• Make it easier for MGF-Kavachh portfolio firms and partners to connect with ISpA-registered and/or operationally significant businesses for potential partnership possibilities.
• Make it easier for eligible enterprises that are registered with ISPA to join MGF-Kavachh’s NODE network. This will allow them to automatically access the start-ups in MGF – Kavachh’s portfolio, which can lead to new business prospects.
Outline of the ISpA Memorandum of Understanding with Starburst
• Starburst and ISpA both want to spark the development of a thriving space ecosystem in India, which will help foster the formation of new businesses and the fast expansion of creative companies in the country. The growth of the India-France Strategic Partnership in defence and space is mirrored in the collaboration between Starburst and the Indian Space Association. More collaboration between the United States and India is a precondition for Starburst’s launch in the Indian market. The goal of the collaboration is to increase sector investment by making use of research synergies. The specific goals are collaborating on investment and commercial prospects, bolstering space startups and entrepreneurship, lobbying for policies, starting cooperative R&D initiatives, and other similar endeavours.
In order to help the Indian space sector—including startups, MSMEs, and industrial majors—improve research, speed up commercialization, and develop creative solutions to fulfill defence capabilities requirements, Starburst and ISpA will collaborate.
During the three-day symposium, there was an exhibition featuring technologies developed by both established companies and new entrants to the space industry. These companies and startups included Suhora, Sisir Radar, Elena Geo, Axon’s Interconnectors and Wires, Cloudcast Digital & Intelsat, Walchandnagar Industries Limited, Larsen and Toubro, Astrogate Labs, Xdlinx Labs, Dhruva Space, Esri India, eQspanse NextGen Technologies Pvt. Ltd., GalaxEye Space, Pixxel Space Technologies, Tata Advanced System, and Hughes Communications India.
