Indian Startups To Showcase Spacetech Innovations, Eye Likely Investments With Musk
Ever since the sector opened to private investments, IN–SPACe has become the bridge between the industry and the Union Cabinet on policy and investment matters.
Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's visit to India will be marked by a showcase of some of India's leading spacetech startups in New Delhi on Monday.
"We're very excited to meet him, show him the tech we're developing, it's an exciting moment," Giritharan Thiruppathirajan, chief of staff of Agnikul Cosmos, told NDTV Profit.
"This particular moment is more than Agnikul," he said. "The private Indian spacetech ecosystem, with the help of IN-SPACe has grown to a level where we're all showcasing our startups to Elon."
Chaired by former Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. Managing Director Pawan Goenka, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, or IN–SPACe, is an autonomous agency under the government's Department of Space. Ever since the sector opened to private investments, IN–SPACe has become the bridge between the industry and the Union Cabinet on policy and investment matters.
"There might be a lot of scope that may come up from this event, this is going to be the start of a lot of things that will come up," Thiruppathirajan said. "IN-SPACe is pushing a lot and they are doing a lot of exciting things, which is making the private space ecosystem more vibrant."
He said Musk's visit will create potential impact on the investment ecosystem as well. "It will bring in a lot of attention towards private spacetech. The government's recent measure to permit FDI via automatic route till 49% has made a lot of investors in the community look at spacetech as a growing sector," he said.
In a couple of weeks, Agnikul is also looking at an inaugural launch from its own and the country's first private launchpad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It will be making its fourth attempt at launching Agnibaan, its 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic rocket.
"After that, we'll also work on our orbital vehicle that will be flying very soon after the suborbital attempt," he said.
Musk is expected to visit India during April 20–22, according to people with knowledge of the matter, and he's expected to meet dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.