26 THE WEEK • JULY 21, 2019
COVER STORY
CHANDRAYAAN-2T
he headquarters of Antrix Corpo-
ration Ltd in Bengaluru is impres-
sively lush. Tall trees surround the
circular building, and the canopy of
green makes for a lovely view from
the huge office of Rakesh Sasibhushan, Antrix’s
chairman and managing director. The premis-
es are not heavily guarded, unlike the nearby
headquarters of Antrix’s parent company, the
Indian Space Research Organisation. “We need
to make it easily accessible for businesses and
people, as we are [ISRO’s] commercial arm,” says
Sasibhushan. “We aim to do business and get
customers.”
Antrix has 84 clients in the communications
field, including Airtel DTH, Tata Sky and Sun
Network. It has only 20 people on its rolls, and
had a turnover of 0 2,039.33 crore in 2017-18.
(Last year’s results are yet to be announced.)
The revenue is impressive, but not substan-
tial. Antrix, which focuses on satellite launch
services for its customers, has achieved only a
fraction of what global players such as SpaceX
and OneWeb have pulled in. “A lot of work
needs to be done for Indian companies to play
a meaningful role in the world market,” Sasibhu-READY
FOR
TAKE-OFF
shan tells THE WEEK. “Seventy to
80 per cent revenue in the space
market comes from satellite ser-
vices. Today, India’s share in the
global space market is less than 7
per cent. Though India is a major
space-faring nation, we do not
have private players who can de-
sign and build space systems.”
Policymakers have not kept
pace with the growing demand
for space-based services in India.
“Indian companies that are will-
ing to invest in technology will
be able to do well in the growing
space ecosystem and eventually
help India garner a fair share in
the global market,” says Sasibhu-
shan. “But, the growth of this seg-
ment in India is stifled by the lack
of clarity in the regulatory frame-
work and [ISRO’s] reluctance to
share critical technologies.”
Growing demand, reduced
costs and emerging technologies
have brought the global space in-
dustry to an inflection point. “Sat-
ellite services, which command
90 per cent of industry revenues,
are seeing a shift from a one-off
satellite that serves a particular re-
gion, to global constellations,” he
says. “Companies like OneWeb,
SpaceX and Boeing have already
announced communication con-
stellations involving thousands of
satellites. The global space indus-
try is valued at around $360 billion today. Mor-
gan Stanley has predicted that the revenues will
pass the trillion-dollar mark by 2040.”
According to Sasibhushan, this calls for a clear-
er regulatory framework. “The much-awaited
Space Activities Bill would be presented soon.
This is expected to bring much-needed clari-
ty, and encourage investment firms and ven-
ture capitalists to actively engage with space
companies. That is why Antrix had mooted the
transfer of small-satellite and small-launcher
technologies to the Indian industry. These in-
itiatives, together with the growing demand in
space-based services, should usher in a revolu-
tion and improve India’s global footprint,” says
Sasibhushan.INDIA NEEDS TO EMPOWER
DOMESTIC STARTUPS TO CLAIM
A BIGGER SHARE OF THE
GLOBAL SPACE MARKET