Takshashila India-France Dialogue: Forming a Celestial Partnership

Indo-French collaboration in the space sector in the past

The future of India-France space cooperation.

India-France space co-operation goes back 60 years.

The global space industry has changed: there is a revolution led by the private sector.

Indo-French space co-operation is a two-way relationship. It involves co-operation with respect for each other's independence and autonomy.

France's space sector is much bigger in scale than India's at the moment.

India was a medium-sized player a decade ago but is now a full-fledged space power with advanced space exploration missions planned to the Moon, Mars and Venus.

India's recent move to open the space sector to private enterprise is worth lauding.

India has been able to develop independent navigation and space surveillance systems.

India has focused on simplification of key technologies.

There are ample opportunities for further co-operation on Indian's human spaceflight mission, Gaganyan.

Small and nano satellite business can be a lucrative avenue for co-operation.

The focus should be on subsectors in the space domain that have the volume and numbers necessary for profits to emerge.

The Indian government should focus on providing infrastructure that can impact downstream applications in the space sector.

What India could have done better and can do better

The regulatory system in France is easier to deal with than in India.

Military space will be a huge market in the coming years and the co-operation between French Space Command and India's Defence Space Agency can be an opportunity for Indian start-ups.

India's space industry needs a more responsive regulatory mechanism.

India's government should not hesitate to simultaneously award large-scale projects to local start-ups.

The smaller players in the Indian start-up ecosystem should be subject to a different set of rules so that they can compete on a level-playing field in the global market.

Political engagement is important for co-operation in Space Situational Awareness (SSA). There should be strategic space security dialogues between the Indian and French governments.

India should have started privatisation in the space industry a decade before it did.