Isro moots start-up support programme

BENGALURU: Having realised their potential and in line with the Centre’s push for start-ups, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is mooting a start-up support programme and the agency has been in talks with several start-ups.
Isro’s Capacity Building Programme Office (CBPO), which works from its headquarters has taken the lead in this process. And, sources said that while the immediate goal is to put in place a policy that will guide the space agency in dealing with start-ups and provide them with access to Isro, the eventual goal is to enhance the capabilities of the Indian space programme.
A senior official from the Space Commission told TOI: “If you look at the past few months, Isro has been working with a few start-ups, and this will further such initiatives.”
According to industry analysts, while there are more than 150 space and aviation start-ups in India, about 30 of them are funded start-ups, like the Bengaluru-based Bellatrix Aerospace or the Mumbai-based Kawa Space, and the numbers are growing every year.
Multiple start-ups have already given their thumbs up to Isro’s initiative and have begun informally committing to be part of the conversation that they hope would eventually lead to a policy.
The CBPO has extended invitations to start-ups and MSMEs to be part of the dialogue, and it will hold a day-long workshop in mid-March to exchange ideas. The workshop will include presentations from veteran industry players, representatives from Atal Innovation Mission, other incubators and mentors.
This is an extension of Isro’s outreach programme, which has already been helping universities, high school students and private industry.
“It was time to think about start-ups and support them. So far, there has been no institutional framework to support start-ups and this initiative will make Isro more accessible to us, which is a welcome.
There are several models like the European Space Agency (ESA) model, that Isro can study to see how start-ups can be incubated to begin with and then find ways to incentivise them so that they can compete globally,” Narayan Prasad, co-founder, Satsearch, a space start-up, said.
Satsearch itself, was incubated by ESA, which provided it seed funding and office space among other aid for two years.
“Isro has been consciously working with the private industry for many decades now, and it is now a natural progression to work closely with start-ups and enable them to get exposed to the growing business environment, various business opportunities and technologies, to spur the growth of space commerce in India,” another official said.