Andhra's space ambitions: Eyes $3 billion investment, to build 2 space cities

The Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, home to India's lone operational spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), has revealed its State Space Policy for 2025-2030. According to the Andhra Government, the policy will facilitate investments amounting to Rs 25,000 crore (over $3 billion) in the space sector over the next decade and create 5,000 direct jobs, 30,000 indirect jobs in the space sector and allied domains. This comes at a time when the Indian space programme has ambitions to scale up operations by undertaking Gaganyaan human spaceflight missions, plans to build an Indian space station, has a vision for crewed moon landings.

Led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Government looks to make the most of its location, industrial capacity, institutional ecosystem, human capital to further India's space ecosystem. With a third and larger launchpad being built at ISRO's SDSC spaceport in Andhra, and the state's proximity to aerospace hubs such as Bengaluru and Chennai, there are logistical and technological advantages for component sourcing, talent access, and cross-sector collaboration. The state is home to a diverse industrial base, including electronics, electricals, defence, precision engineering, heavy machinery, all of which can potentially contribute to the requirements of the space industry.

As part of its strategic goals, the Andhra Government plans to establish two dedicated space industrial zones - Space City in Sri Satya Sai District (along the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor) and Space City in Tirupati District. Both facilities would be hubs for design, R&D, manufacturing, and launch-related activities. Further, the state wishes to foster international collaborations and partnerships in critical space technologies, satellite applications, and launch logistics.

Outlining the vision for each proposed Space City, the Andhra Government said that the one in Sri Satya Sai District would be a national centre of excellence for research, design, innovation, and prototyping in the space sector. The initiative will focus on the design and development aspect, the city will offer a complete ecosystem for startups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs), research institutions, academia, and anchor firms focused on launch-related and design-intensive activities. It aims to accelerate product development and drive growth in the space industry.

The Space City in Tirupati(Routhasuramala) is aimed at capitalising on the proximity to the country's principal spaceport at Sriharikota. It would be focused on manufacturing, integration, and launch support services, which include component manufacturing, subsystem assembly, testing infrastructure, and logistics.

For setting up these Space Cities, the Andhra Government would develop the core infrastructure such as roads, power supply, and communication networks, while land parcels would be allocated to eligible firms via streamlined procedures. To attract and encourage participation, the Andhra Government is rolling out significant financial incentives and other subsidies for startups, industries of varying sizes and scales.

“The vision of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is to contribute to the national ambition of expanding the space ecosystem by strategically utilising the advantages of Andhra Pradesh. I am inspired to see the speed and desire of the Honourable CM to bring ISRO(the space agency), IN-SPACE (the promoter and facilitator for space startups), and space industries, startups, with the support of the Central Government for developing a Space city for the world,” former ISRO Chief Dr S. Somanath told WION. He presently serves as the Vikram Sarabhai Professor at ISRO, and as the Space Technology Advisor for the Andhra government.