Indian Space Association

In New                

Recently, Indian Space Association (ISpA) was launched by the Prime Minister of India.

About the News

• Aim: ISpA aims to contribute to the Government of India’s vision of making India Atmanirbhar and a global leader in the space arena, which is fast emerging as the next growth frontier for mankind.
• Functions of ISpA: The association will engage with stakeholders across the ecosystem for the formulation of an enabling policy framework that fulfils the Government’s vision.
• ISpA will also work towards building global linkages for the Indian space industry to bring in critical technology and investments into the country to create more high skill jobs.
• Members: ISRO is also an ISpA member.
• Its founding members include Bharti Airtel, Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Alpha Design Technologies. Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Ananth Technology Limited, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics, Maxar India.
• Significance: According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) India accounts for only about 2% of the space economy with a potential to capture 9% of the global market share by 2030.
• ISpA is an association of space and satellite companies that aims to promote aerospace and space technologies and making India self-reliant and a global service provider.     
• Function of ISpA: It will engage with stakeholders across the space economy and lobby with the government for enabling legislation, and for policies that promote activity in space-related sectors.

Areas where ISpA could make a difference

• Primary Areas:
  • ISpA could help develop the capacity to design, build and launch larger satellites concept to work evenly across the nation.
  • Domestic material sciences industry would find spinoffs as new materials developed for space vehicles need to be lightweight, while also being capable of surviving extremes of temperature and radiation. For example, Teflon was developed for heat shields and space suits.
  • Solar energy research would get a boost, since solar power is a must.
• Development of New technologies:
  • Helps domestic healthcare industry: Experience of the NASA and Roscosmos show that the technologies developed to put humans into space helped them better understanding of biology in unusual environments with variable gravity, high radiation, etc, and developed portable MRI scanners, compact lightweight exercise equipment, and remote medical diagnostics software.
  • Circular Economy: Experience of reprocess organic waste products (urine, faeces, carbon dioxide) will lead to better designs for adult diapers, more efficient toilets and water-recycling technologies.
  • New Goals such as space mining and tourism, establishing colonies or stations on the Moon, on Mars, and factories at Lagrange Points would require developing technologies, including autonomous robots, better engines, self-contained habitats, etc.

Sources:

• Indian Space Association Decoded: Ways Indian Space Association can push the limits of exploration
• Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi launches the Indian Space Association (ISpA)