After satellites and launch vehicles, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) — the central agency for regulating and promoting the private space sector — is looking at ways for entry of private players in ground segments, according to a consultation document prepared by it.
Ground stations are essentially ground-based antennas that help in communicating with the satellites. Offering ground station as a service (GSaaS) such as satellite control, telemetry and tracking, space data reception, and space situational awareness on pay-per-use basis, the sector has been envisioned to grow 30% by 2033 — from $0.14 billion to $2.5 billion, according to the document. This is in line with the government’s vision to increase India’s share in the global commercial space market from 2% to 8% by 2033.
“… a view emerged that sharing of the ground stations by multiple service providers or consortium should be encouraged, while considering the ISRO premises or sites, since it leads to several benefits, including reducing the need for accommodating multiple stations at the same site, cost benefits, resource optimisation, enhanced service coverage, and collaborative innovation,” the document states.
Offering ground stations as a service (GSaaS) has several benefits. Setting up and maintaining ground stations can be exorbitant, and each station provides coverage over a limited area in the low earth orbit.
A network of ground stations needs to be set up spread across different geographies, building in redundancies or a system that in the event or a problem ensures that operations are uninterrupted, can become expensive. Also, updating technology can also be draining on the finances.
However, GSaaS is in its nascent stage and there are several challenges that private players face: Unclear regulations for setting it up within the country at the moment, the capital required, getting licence and spectrum, high rates for reception of earth observation data, challenges in on-boarding satellite operators as even that sector is in nascent stages, and high costs of several components needed.
After consultation with stakeholders, IN-SPACe has identified areas that it needs to work on. Primarily, providing clarity on regulatory processes, especially for filings with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for spectrum allocation. A single window mechanism for all approvals is also needed, streamlined processes and timelines. The industry will also need a waiver of licence fee for receiving data.
The document also states that the industry will need transfer of technologies from ISRO, while government support is needed for access to testing facilities, especially for large antennas for deep space communications. It will also need assistance for market access and networking opportunities with potential customers, investors, and partners.
In July 2024, the Hyderabad-based spacetech startup Dhurva Space became one of the first private players in the country to get approval from IN-SPACe to provide ground station as a service.
