The central government had announced space sector reforms in June 2020

The central government is in the process of creating an ecosystem to encourage more private participation in indigenous production of space technologies, services and devices.

This will become a reality once the framework for the regulation and promotion of private players in the space sector is finalized.

Sharing the latest developments in this regard, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh has said that the the Space Activities Bill is under active consideration of the Government.

He gave the information in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Under the space sector reforms announced in June 2020, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) was created as an independent nodal agency under the Department of Space.

It will have the mandate of promoting, handholding, licensing, authorization and monitoring of private space activities in India.

Access to Department of Space (DOS) facilities and expertise are extended to private entities to support their space activities. Announcement of opportunities were done offering challenges in new domains of space technology.

The Government of India is encouraging transfer of technologies developed in the field of space to Indian industries. Apart from this, Government of India is bringing in new sector policies and guidelines and also revising existing policies, Singh said in his reply.

IN-SPACe will have aSafety and Security Directorate to ensure security of ISRO installations when allowing access to private entities. Public consultations were done and the relevant Departments and Ministries were consulted.