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The Union Minister of State (IC) for Science & Technology and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said on Thursday that the government has approved the establishment of a new spaceport in Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu, for carrying out the launches of the small satellite launch vehicles (SSLV) developed by ISRO.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said Indian Space Policy 2023 has the provision for utilization of spaceport for carrying out launch activities by non-government entities (NGEs), subject to technical feasibility and range safety constraints.
The Indian Space Policy–2023 has been approved and released in the public domain. The policy opens up the sector for enhanced participation of non-government entities (NGEs) across the entire value chain of the space economy, while clearly delineating the roles of various stakeholders such as IN-SPACe, ISRO, NSIL and DOS, the minister said.
Further, the government has set up the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) as a single-window agency for promotion and authorization of space activities. The budget allocations for IN-SPACe was Rs 10 crore in 2021-22, Rs 33 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 95 crore for the current fiscal 2023-24.
Singh also informed that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory – India (LIGO-India) project has been approved by the government at an estimated cost of Rs 2,600 crore, with Department of Atomic Energy as the lead agency. After completion of the project, the LIGO-India will be operated as a national facility for detecting gravitation waves and research in related areas of astronomy, he added.
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