PM Modi to Launch Indian Space Association on 11th October

In a press statement on Thursday, the Indian Space Association, or ISpA, has said that PM Narendra Modi will formally launch the association on 11th October.

Indian Space Association - India's Commercial Space Organization

Notably, some of the founding members of ISpA include Bharti Airtel, L&T, Nelco, OneWeb, and so on. Some of the stakeholders in the satcom space also form core members of the organization. The group will seek to better unite the stakeholders in satcom in India, since it has become such an important market for satellite players in India and abroad.

In the statement, the organization said, "ISpA aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry. ISpA will undertake Policy Advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian Space domain, including the Government and its Agencies, to make India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena".

In the same statement, ISpA announced JD Patil, Senior EVP at L&T-NxT as the first Chairman of ISpA. Also, Rahul Vatts, CRO at Bharti Airtel, will deputize with Patil, being appointed the Vice Chairman.

In another appointment, the organization will have Lt Gen. A.K. Bhatt (Retd.) as the Director General of the Association.

ISpA has already had interactions with ISRO, or the Indian Space Research Organization. The newly-found organization will also seek to launch a website soon, called the IN-SPACe. At the interaction, held on 25th August, Lt Gen. A.K. Bhatt and JD Patil had presented ISpA's roadmap, expressing how it would benefit the space industry as a whole.

Lt Gen. AK Bhatt, Director General, ISpA said: “We are truly honoured to have the Hon’ble Prime Minister grace the launch ceremony and outline his vision for the growth of India’s space industry and making our nation a global leader in the space arena. We would welcome members from media, space, satellite and allied technology industries along with public at large to join us for this event.”