Six MoUs signed between India, Australia at Bengaluru Space Expo
BENGALURU: As many as six space industry memorandums were exchanged between Australia and India on Monday, at the Bengaluru Space Expo (BSX) 2022, including two with Bengaluru-based companies.
MoUs were exchanged between six Australian and Indian companies, with Bengaluru-based aerospace manufacturer Ananth Technologies collaborating with Space Machines Company in developing product integration, testing, technology development and joint space programmes.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based space data and analytics company SatSure will be collaborating with QL Space, work on building satellites and AI solutions to support mining, defence and agriculture industries, as well as explore applications in space.
Apart from the two companies, MoUs were signed between India’s DCube and SABRN Health, Altdata, Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace and HEX20 as well as QL Space, and Chennai-based GalaxEye and QL Space. The various partnerships will be working towards a variety of goals, including space mineral exploration missions and development of technology for monitoring the health of astronauts.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath said foreign participation in BSX and the Indian space industry has increased, which is very encouraging. “The opening up of the space sector has contributed largely to its growth on a large scale. The most exciting part of the space ecosystem is startups. There are hundreds of space startups in India today and they are working on various systems, which is promising,” he said.
He said the space sector is an integral part of the digital economy being developed in India, and contributes to causes like communication and Earth observation. “All these technologies will eventually come into use in these areas, and this is understood by not only the Department of Space but other departments too. Building a functioning space ecosystem is a tough job and there is a long way to go, primarily due to the risks associated with the space sector. However, we have been growing the industry much faster than I had expected,” he said.
HAL-L&T bags Rs 860cr contract for PSLV
HAL-L&T consortium bagged a Rs 860-crore contract for end-to-end realisation of five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) over four years from the NewsSpace India Limited (NSIL). The contract was signed between HAL and NSIL on Monday, during the inaugural session of the 7th Bengaluru Space Expo 2022 at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC). ISRO formed a separate entity NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) with the primary mandate of enabling Indian industries to scale up high-technology manufacturing and production base for meeting the needs of the Indian space programme. Over the years, ISRO’s PSLV, has successfully performed more than 52 successful flights.