PM Modi all set to launch Defence Space Mission with 75 innovative challenges: Report
The Defence Space Mission, with the domain of warfare expanding beyond land, air, sea, and into space, is being set up with multiple dual use technologies to provide fillip to the nascent space industry in India. It is reportedly said that this timely government encouragement could make India a front leader in the second space age, characterized by rapid privatisation of space.
FollowPrime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to launch Defence Space Mission on Wednesday, the next generation of national offense and defence, even as he inaugurates the DefExpo 22 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
According to reports, 75 challenges, providing a holistic overview of stages of space missions, have been curated to boost the country's space-related defence preparedness within the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as India celebrates Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to mark the 75h year of Independence. The challenges will come alive on the Defence Ministry website, the moment PM Modi presses the button in Gandhinagar.
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The government has classified the challenges into five technology buckets - launch systems, satellite systems, communication and payload systems, ground systems, and software systems.
The Defence Space Mission, with the domain of warfare expanding beyond land, air, sea, and into space, is being set up with multiple dual use technologies to provide fillip to the nascent space industry in India. It is reportedly said that this timely government encouragement could make India a front leader in the second space age, characterized by rapid privatisation of space.
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According to reports, the Space Defence Mission will provide a boost to space based tech with multiple civilian and military applications.
The proposed 75 challenges have been categorized into various initiatives of the Department of Defence Production with some 35 open to more than 50 identified start-ups, 20 under Make 1 with partial government funding and the remaining 20 under heavy government funding route.
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The ISRO has agreed to support the mission through tech support, procuring and inducting dual use technologies on productisation, while the DRDO has agreed in principle to hand-hold the industries by providing technical consultancy and access to facilities.
It is also said that the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ), and projected development budget of each challenge was ascertained from the end users, like Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy, and based on inputs, the list of challenges to be launched has been finalised.
