India’s private space firms ramp up satellite output but bottlenecks remain | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: India’s private space industry is preparing for a rapid build-up in satellite manufacturing, but founders and industry bodies say the pace of growth will depend on easier launch access, domestic availability of sensors and chips, shorter procurement cycles and more suitable financing models.The push has gathered momentum after recent private-sector milestones, including Skyroot Aerospace’s success with the maiden Vikram-1 mission, which has strengthened investor interest in space hardware and deep-tech ventures. Dhruva Space founder and chief executive Sanjay Nekkanti said the ecosystem is moving towards scale as more capital flows into the sector. The Hyderabad-based company is working on nano, micro and cubesat missions, with nano and micro satellites expected to begin flying from the end of this year on a private international launch vehicle.“The first mission will carry multiple customer payloads,” Nekkanti said. Dhruva is building 22 satellites over the next 24 months and aims to produce one satellite a month from next year, while cubesats could be delivered at a faster rate. Govt’s Satellite Based Surveillance-3 programme is emerging as an early test of private-sector capacity. Under the programme, 31 satellites are being built by three private consortiums that are completing milestones before moving into manufacturing and launches.Lt Gen A K Bhatt (retd), founding director general of Indian Space Association, said the programme shows domestic capability, but not full self-reliance. “As far as the sensors go, some of the sensors do come from abroad. If not the complete sensor, then essential components come from abroad. Chips will take a little more longer time,” he said.Launch availability remains another constraint. Private firms have often turned overseas, especially to SpaceX, because of cost and schedule certainty. Bhatt said Indian launch services are either unavailable or not competitive enough, though the pressure could ease once Skyroot, Agnikul and ISRO’s SSLV establish commercial cadence. GalaxEye co-founder Pranit Mehta said payloads and sensors remain the main bottlenecks.TakeMe2Space founder Ronak Kumar Samantray said launch clearance and availability have been major hurdles. The company is shipping its MOI-1 demonstrator satellite for launch from the US after booking a slot within six months. “This time I am paying three times more than what I paid ISRO,” he said. MOI-1 had earlier been slated to fly on PSLV C-62, which failed in Jan.Samantray said chips and sensors still need imports, but companies are designing around supply-chain risks by using commercial off-the-shelf components with radiation shielding. Former DRDO chairman G Satheesh Reddy said funding has improved, helped by policy changes and govt support, but India needs space-grade component capacity and larger global business.