India did 7 of 30 space launches planned for 2024-25: Govt data

In February 2024, for the first time ever, Indian Government agency IN-SPACE(established to support Indian sapce startups) had publicly released an "Integrated Launch Manifesto 2024-25". In the document, IN-SPACE mentioned that ISRO(Indian Space agency), ISRO's commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), and startups would perform up to 30 rocket launch missions in the 15-month period between January 2024 and March 2025.

However, Government data on space launches shows that India executed only 7 of these 30 rocket launch missions in the said period. This amounts to meeting 23% of the target stated in the Government agency IN-SPACE's launch manifesto. Of the seven launch missions in the 15-month period, ISRO executed five, NSIL executed one mission for a foreign customer, and a private firm carried out a test launch.

"As is evident there is a notable increase in launches and in private sector involvement in the Indian space sector. This marks a substantial increase in launch activity compared to previous years and is a positive indicator of the expanding space ecosystem in the country," IN-SPACE had said in February 2024, referring to its "30 launches in 15 months manifesto". With barely one-fourth of the target being met, Indian space industry insiders are raising questions about the wide gulf between the manifesto and the reality, and the credibility of such manifestos. They also expressed concerns about how the global space sector would view an emerging space power like India, which has big ambitions but appears to fall severely short on implementation.

For example, American private firm SpaceX which does the most number of space launches globally, had targeted 148 launches of their Falcon series of rockets in the year 2024, of which they accomplished 134 launches. SpaceX met 90% of its annual target, and has been drastically increasing its launch targets with every passing year. Every year, SpaceX gets within touching distance of its publicly stated target.

Likewise, Rocket Lab, an American private firm that launches small spacefaring rockets had projected 22 launches in 2024, and ended up accomplishing 16 launches. Rocket Lab met 72% of its annual target. Though a small firm when compared to giants like SpaceX, Rocket Lab has been consistently increasing its number of launches with every passing year.

For the sake of comparison, in the 15-month period between October 2022 and December 2023, all space entities in India had performed a total of 10 rocket launches. Insiders question why the next 15-month period(Jan 2024-March 2025 as stated in the IN-SPACE manifesto) has seen only 7 rocket launches, indicating a 30% fall from the earlier 15-month period.

Going by recent trends, the Government-run space agency ISRO and its commercial arm NSIL have been performing a total of six or seven rocket launches in a financial year. Startups that build and launch rockets in India are in their nascent stages and have only done maiden experimental launches. Indian rocket Startups have not started launching to space. It is under such circumstances that the government-run IN-SPACE had announced a four-fold increase in launches in the Jan 2024 to March 2025 period. Experts question the methodology used by IN-SPACE to put out such an ambitious manifesto, when the there seems to a blatant slowdown in India's space launches.

This wide gulf between announced launches and actual performance also raises questions about the level of coordination between the Government agency and space sector regulator IN-SPACE (which announced the manifesto for the 30 launches) and the space sector(ISRO, NSIL and private firms) that has to execute these launches, critics say. IN-SPACE, ISRO, and NSIL are all arms of the Indian Government's high-profile Department of Space, which reports to the Prime Minister's Office.

Industry veterans agree that delays are common in the space sector and launches get postponed by a few weeks or few months. However, they point out that meeting only 23% of the publicly stated launch target affects India's credibility domestically and globally.

As per IN-SPACE website, their vision is "To enable private sector participation in space activities, boost space economy within the country and develop space force frontiers, for a resurgent, AatmaNirbhar Bharat(self-reliant India)."

The website also mentions that IN-SPACE is responsible to promote, enable authorize and supervise various space activities of the NGEs(private firms) that include, among others, the building of launch vehicles & satellites and providing space-based services; sharing of space infrastructure and premises under the control of DOS/ISRO; and establishment of new space infrastructure and facilities. However, it remains unclear how IN-SPACE, which is primarily responsible for hand-holding startups, publicly announces the launch targets of ISRO and NSIL, both of which are run by their respective leadership and organizational setup.

"Action must be matched with action", says an Industry report

A recent report by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry(FICCI), EY, released in the presence of top Indian Government officials and space industry members, had spoken about the immense potential of the Indian Space sector, while also cautioning that "ambition must be matched with action". Referring to the challenges faced by the Indian Space sector, the report had also mentioned Bureaucratic complexity and multi-agency overlaps, listing out IN-SPACE, ISRO, NSIL, Department of Space (DoS), Department of Telecom(DoT), which led to delays in decision-making. It had also expressed the need for a single-window clearance system for the space sector.