India-China Competing In Space

India is encroaching into the lucrative space market, positioning itself as a solid alternative to SpaceX by capitalising on China and Russia’s geopolitical isolation.

Three hundred communications satellites were launched by the state-owned NewSpace India Ltd. for OneWeb Ltd. last month from an island off the country’s eastern coast. The action not only underlined India’s intentions in the field while saving the UK satellite company’s attempt to build a global broadband internet network in the air.

Launching satellites into orbit has become a lucrative business due to the demand for high-speed internet offered from space. According to forecasts from Ernst & Young, the so-called space economy would increase from $447 billion in 2020 to $600 billion by 2025. Given their long-running state space programmes, Russia and China have been the primary satellite launch suppliers alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX. But, many potential clients are no longer able to access them due to the Ukrainian War and Tensions between Beijing and the US. After Russia halted the initial launch of OneWeb’s spacecraft last year and kidnapped 36 of them, OneWeb resorted to India for assistance.

The latest rocket from France’s Arianespace has had trouble launching at the same time. In addition, Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc., a satellite launch business, said last week that it was suspending operations permanently as a result of a launch failure in January. Several satellite operators don’t want Chinese rockets, in part due to growing worries about Beijing gaining access to Western technology. India, in contrast, has gotten closer to the US and other regional powers, such as Australia and Japan, and its launches are less expensive than those of its competitors.

One of the cornerstones of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Made in India” initiative, which seeks to establish the world’s fifth-largest economy as a leading hub for technological innovation, is the development of the space sector. By supporting the expansion of startups, his administration has attempted to make India’s space agency more business-friendly.

Providing Dependability

India’s rockets have in the past had reliability problems as well. According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics, which is run by Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution, the country’s recent success rate of roughly 70% compares badly to rates in the 1990s for rockets from the US, Europe, Russia, or China.

He stated that “you’re embracing a somewhat bigger risk of failure” when choosing to launch in India.

Nonetheless, he added, India is doing well despite the situation. India continues to be a favored choice for affordable launches: In 2013, the country launched an orbiter to Mars for a fraction of the cost of a NASA probe that made the same trip.