India’s space sector is set for a major overhaul as IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka announces that ISRO will exit routine manufacturing of launch vehicles and satellites, handing production to private players. SSLV has already been transferred to HAL, with PSLV and LVM3 next, allowing ISRO to focus on advanced technologies, scientific missions and specialised satellites to drive India’s space economy expansion.
AS NATIONAL SPACE DAY approaches on August 23, 2026, India’s space sector is preparing for a major structural change. At Business Today’s India @ 100 Economy Summit, held on August 21, 2026, IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka said that Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will gradually move away from manufacturing and focus on research. So, as ISRO shifts its attention away from manufacturing launch vehicles, satellites, and routine satellites, these activities will be transferred to the private sector.
Speaking at the event, Goenka said, “Some of the satellites that ISRO is building right now, we're going to transfer those to the private sector. Eventually, ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That’ll all be done by the private sector or PSUs.” He said the transition is underway to make these changes, as it will allow ISRO to focus on advanced technologies, scientific missions, research, etc.
This shift of manufacturing from ISRO to the private sector has already started with the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). All the production and technology rights of the vehicle have been transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after it qualified as the highest bidder. So, the SSLV is the first launch vehicle to be transferred out of ISRO, but it is not the end. The further phase of the transfer is even more significant.
Goenka further said that the list will also include the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket and the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) rocket. These two rockets are India’s most powerful rockets, which will now be transferred to the private sector. While the SSLV bidding allowed public sector companies to bid, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a public sector undertaking (PSU), these rockets’ bids will not allow PSUs to take part in the transfer process.
He said that everything will be transferred to the private sector, and they will do everything related to making the launch vehicles and other manufacturing work. He said that ISRO will only focus on “satellites that are for special purpose for orbits for scientific research stuff like that and satellites to develop new technology that will then get transferred to the private sector.”
He said that ISRO will work on developing new technologies and specialised satellites, which will then be transferred to the private sector. Goenka said, “We have already transferred 120 technologies from ISRO to the private sector. So we are moving towards that.” He further said that the first SSLV launch by HAL is expected to happen in September 2027.
He also mentioned an independent space launch centre, which, according to him, will also be finished by the same time as the SSLV. He said, “We're expecting the first launch of SSLV from HAL happening from that launch centre.” Goenka said the party that will be running the new launch centre will be finalized within the next four to five months and that they will further start working on it.
These changes are targeted at making India’s ambition of expanding the space economy a success. India is planning to take the space economy from $8 billion to $44 billion by 2033. When asked how we can achieve this target, because the target is more than five times the earlier number, Goenka said that three things need to happen to make this aim a success.
The first thing is government demand. He said, “The government of India has to be an anchor customer, the demand has to come from the government of India and that's not true just for India, that's true for almost any country in the world. The government is a very big customer of space.” He said that discussions are happening with multiple departments in both the central and state governments on how more and more space technology can be involved in sectors such as agriculture, urban planning, defence, etc.
He was then asked if the government had bought space technologies from the private space sector. Goenka said yes, the government has done it, and especially the Department of Defence has launched many satellites. He said that currently there is an order for 31 satellites from the private sector, “They're total doing 52 satellites, out of which 21 will be done by ISRO and 31 by the private sector.”
Goenka said that number two is industry, not the space industry but other industries. “We need to get the industry that is not in the space sector to do what we are asking the government to do. That means see how space can be used by their business to do things better,” Goenka said. He said that whether it is agriculture, marine fisheries, or any other department, we need to see how we can use space better than just using it for GPS.
The third point is the international market. He highlighted that isolating India will not work and that India needs to expand its presence in international markets. Goenka said, “When it comes to space, whether it is input or output technology, investment has to come from outside also, not just in India. Market access we have to give to outsiders. We cannot say that we will get their market access but not give our market access. That doesn't work. But we have to generate a tremendous amount of revenue from selling our products and services outside India.”
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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