India-Australia Space Collaboration: A Way to Billion Dollar Market

13 July 2024

The global space industry is achieving significant year-on-year growth, valued at around $400 billion, and expected to surpass the $900 billion mark by 2033. This massive size showcases the wealth of opportunities for the business associated with it. In this wealth of opportunity, North America, and Europe dominate the space industry share with 50% and 20%, respectively. On the other hand, India is the leader of the Global South in capturing cosmic exploration, and shares only 2-3 % of it.

India’s Rising Shares of Space Industry?

With the rising wealth of space opportunities, the Indian govt is actively expanding its aerospace base across the region. To see the success rate of launching space vehicles from low earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit, Australia has signed the $18 million deal for their satellite. This strategic deal is opening the gate for India’s commercialisation of the space industry. Explore how this strategic collaboration helps the businesses associated with export and import.

Global Space Industry: A Booster for Electronic Industry

As per the reports, the market size for the global space industry is expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035 from $630 billion in 2023, with a 9% annual growth rate. This massive industry consists of several small and big industrial components, some of the major ones are mentioned below –

Actuators, Microprocessors, and sensors are among the key electronic components required for the space industry. China, Germany, and the USA became the biggest exporters of Actuators with $11.1, $1 $ 4.6, and $4.4 billion of sensors to the world, in the same period.

 

***Value USD Million

 Top Films and Fabrics Used in Spacecraft

The spacecraft consists of thousands of materials such as Radiators, thermal insulation, lenses, carbon fibers, etc. These components play an important role in overall structure, for instance, thermal insulation ensures astronauts from scorching sun heat in geosynchronous orbit and ensures sensitive electronics from overheating and freezing and carbon fibers offer strongness and lighter weight for lower fuel consumption. Let’s see the trade insights of other components with top exporters.

China, Germany, and the USA are the key leading players for radiators, and thermal insulation with $20.2 and $18.4 billion of exports respectively, in Q1 of 2024. On the other hand, France became the undisputed king for carbon fibre export with $3 billion, in the same period.

 

***Value USD Billion

 What Top Metals Required for the Space Industry?

The metal has become the backbone of the space industry and acts as a backbone. And, among the list of top metals, Iron and steel help in core structure with strongness and affordable price. On the other hand, lightweight aluminium and titanium are usually used for fuel tanks, cladding, and heat resistance, respectively. Explore who are the top exporters for their components-

In the first quarter of 2024, China, Germany, and the USA’s exports of Iron and Steel stood at $16.8, $8.6, and $4.9 billion, respectively in Q1 of 2024. It’s remarkable to note that China dominates in all top export product markets with the largest share.

 

***Value USD Million

It has become crystal clear that the Export industry is in its nascent stage in India, and in the coming years, the market size will increase to $100 by 2030 from $8-9 billion in 2023. The more this industry grows, the more businesses associated with it will see a boom in their market expansion worldwide.

What Are the Steps Taken by Govt to Boost Space Sectors?

Govt of India has established a well-constructive visionary plan to make India’s private space sector competitive with their foreign players. Here’s a quick for govt support –

Indian Space Policy 2023 –

This policy aims to create a dynamic and competitive space sector by active participation from private players. This includes using existing ISRO facilities for launching vehicles, etc.

IN-SPACe

It was brought to reduce the cost for private companies and acts as a single widow platform for regulatory processes and approvals.

Revised FDI policy -

To make the space sector competitive with the existing market, the government has allowed 100% FDI for satellite manufacturing, and 49% for launch vehicles under the automatic route.  

Based on these steps, the Indian government aims to capture 10% of the global market which translates to around $100 billion by 2030.

Space Industry: A Key to Trillion Dollar Market

The Space industry possesses tremendous trade opportunities across all sectors. In the coming years, the industry's dependence on space satellites and related fields will increase by double-digit growth. Here’s a quick view of how the space industry benefits the other Indian sectors –

The top five industries consisting of Supply chain and transportation, food and beverages, Defence, consumer goods and lifestyle, and Digital communication will contribute half of the space economy by 2035.

 Resource Exploration –

Advances in space technology can be used to identify abundance of resource allocation like minerals, rare earth modules under deep sea, etc. This contributes to economic development and resource security,

Healthcare –

It can enhance the concept of telemedicine, allowing doctors to provide their service to hilly or remote areas. Businesses can capture this untouched area without working hard.

 Environment Monitoring –

Satellite data can be used to track the changes in greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation speed, ocean currents, weather phenomena, etc. By understanding climate change, govt and businesses can develop effective environmental policies.

Communication –

With the advances in technology, the need for real-time satellite data has become the heart of the companies. Without this data, no major industry can stand in the competitive market, for instance, EVs, mobile phones, and cars, and many industries need navigating data that comes from satellites.

Conclusion –

The future belongs to data, and most of our day-to-day data comes from satellites, from monitoring the weather to navigating location, communication, etc., making this industry a development backbone. Hence it becomes crucial for the Indian govt to support the space with constructive policies and financial assistance.