India has reaped an over four-fold return on investments in its space programme in the last decade according to a study conducted by Novaspace, an international space sector consulting firm. Such handsome economic dividends were possible on account of the frugality of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which has added $60 billion to the Indian economy even though the total investment in ISRO in the 55 years of its existence has been less than a single year’s budget of the American space agency, NASA. India’s space programme, including its missions to the Moon and Mars, is often questioned in light of the country’s poverty. But the study shows that an investment in space research is anything but a vanity project. Besides the obvious benefits, such as strengthening telecommunication, weather forecasting, GPS and so on, the space sector supports 4.7 million jobs in the country, a number that is set to go up as private payers foray into space research. Hearteningly, the Indian Space Policy, brought out in 2023, aims to encourage and promote greater private sector participation across the entire value chain of the space economy. As per official estimates, there are over 200 space start-ups in India at present: their number is expected to rise. This is encouraging because estimates by the World Economic Forum show that the global space economy is expected to be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035 as satellite and rocket-enabled technologies become increasingly prevalent. In order to carve out a piece of this pie, India recently amended the country’s foreign direct investment policy to allow 100% FDI in the space sector.

But there are areas that need attention. While India is actively pushing for innovation, it is lagging behind on the regulatory front whereas the West has already started redrafting the norms of international space law. The Artemis Accords, to which India is a signatory, is an indicator of the intensity of the unfolding strategic competition in the space sector. This non-binding set of principles is designed for multilateral leadership in civil space diplomacy and to guide civil space exploration. But there is concern that the United States of America may exploit the Accords to reinforce and progressively develop international space law in an America-centric way. India, incidentally, does not have a national space law of its own. It is time for India to formulate space laws that will not only address the demands of the Indian market as well as those of international investors but also give the nation negotiatory muscle necessary to compete in the international space sector.