RAS question
Indian Space Policy 2023 allows which of the following?
Correct answer: (C) Private sector can carry out end-to-end space activities.
Indian Space Policy-2023 permits private entities to carry out end-to-end space activities, including launches, satellite realisation and operations, data acquisition and dissemination, and ground stations.
Explanation
Indian Space Policy-2023 changed the role of private players from supporting actors to authorised participants across the space value chain. The Department of Space reply states that the policy enables and permits private entities to carry out end-to-end space activities, including launches, satellite realisation and operations, data acquisition and dissemination, and ground stations. That is why option C is the precise answer. Under this structure, ISRO focuses on R&D and exploration, NSIL handles commercial activities, and IN-SPACe authorises and regulates private space activities. The policy does not mean an unregulated sector; it means private participation under an authorisation framework.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Foreign companies do not receive an automatic direct-launch right from India; private-sector participation operates through partnership or approval through IN-SPACe.
- (B) The policy opens the sector but does not leave space activities unregulated, because IN-SPACe authorises and regulates private space activities.
- (D) Only-ISRO launch exclusivity is incompatible with the Department of Space position permitting private entities to undertake launches as part of end-to-end space activities.
Concept
This tests the governance shift in India's space sector: private participation, ISRO's revised role, NSIL's commercial role and IN-SPACe's authorisation role. It recurs in RAS because space policy links science and technology with regulatory reform and economic policy.