Digantara Research and Technologies, Bengaluru – based Space Situational Awareness (SSA), and surveillance company has signed an agreement with the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, IN-SPACe, India’s premier nodal agency under the Department of Space (DoS), on Space Situational Awareness and Launch Opportunities.
The Minister of State for Space, Jitendra Singh, announced the creation of IN–SPACe in June 2020. The Union Cabinet approved its creation as an independent nodal agency under the Department of Space to enable and allow Non-Governmental Private Entities (NGPEs) to participate in space activities, use DoS-owned facilities as well as to prioritise the launch manifest.
This partnership was signed on the inaugural day of IN-SPACe headquarters in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on June 10, 2022 in the presence of Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi; Honourable Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah; Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel; ISRO Chairman Shri S. Somanath; IN-SPACe Chairman Shri Pawan Goenka and many more.
With the liberalisation of the space industry in India, the Department of Space (DoS) through IN-SPACe has been instrumental in enabling young startups working on critical technologies such as Space Situational Awareness (SSA) through access to its decades of technical expertise and specialised facilities. This unprecedented access to resources has resulted in start-ups’ ability to develop new technologies at a faster rate and enter the market faster.
“Dept. of Space’s recognition of critical technologies such as SSA and enabling support to startups like Digantara has helped drive development process significantly and have propelled us to be competitors on a global scale,” said Anirudh Sharma, CEO, Digantara.
Sharma adds, “With the signing of the MoU in Ahmedabad and securing the launch service agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), we anticipate a productive collaboration in the development of resilient indigenous capabilities.”