Australia looking forward to active bilateral cooperation with India in space sector, say officials

In a discussion facilitated by the Confederation of Indian Industry, top officials from the Indian and Australian Space agencies and industry representatives discussed the ‘Commercial Opportunities across the Aus-India Space Ecosystem’.

Chennai: Top Australian government officials, representatives of the Australian Space Agency and entrepreneurs expressed interest towards an active bilateral cooperation with India in the Space sector. This gains significance given how Australia is planning on tripling its Space Economy by 2030 and India’s recent reforms to permit end-to-end private participation in space activities, besides the ongoing plan to permit Foreign Direct Investment in the Space sector. In a discussion facilitated by the Confederation of Indian Industry, top officials from the Indian and Australian Space agencies and industry representatives discussed the ‘Commercial Opportunities across the Aus-India Space Ecosystem’.

Speaking at the event, Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell AO, said he wanted to see Australian and Indian firms partner and grow together. He welcomed India’s planned revisions to FDI norms in the space sector, saying “this could be a real game-changer for bilateral commercial space collaboration”. On Australia’s advantages, he said “our geographical position in the southern hemisphere, wide-open spaces and relatively low light pollution, make us a natural partner for India. We also have expertise to offer in satellite tech, earth observation, leapfrog R&D, comms, robotics and remote asset management”. He also recalled the Ind-Aus cooperation in space, which dates back to 1987.

Sreerekha, Assistant Scientific Secretary, ISRO, said that ISRO was in the process of bringing out Industry-friendly policies and also assured that the Draft policy would be made available for public consultation. Regarding the FDI Policy for space, she added that it would soon be made available, thus enabling foreign firms to invest in all areas of space.