New Delhi. The concluding day of the India Space Congress (ISC) 2024 witnessed a series of significant events, including the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between SIA-India and the Economic Council of India, and between SIA-India and Indus Tech. These agreements mark a milestone in fostering strategic partnerships and advancing India’s growing and ambitious role in the international space ecosystem.
The final day of the ISC 2024 featured a power-packed Defence Space – Industry Roundtable, offering a unique platform for industry interaction with the Ministry of Defence. The session was chaired by Lt Gen VG Khandare (Retd), Principal Adviser, MoD, and moderated by Lt Gen PJS Pannu (Retd), former Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff. Key speakers included Col Manik Anand, PO – Aerospace System, Directorate of Planning & Coordination, MoD. Participants engaged in an insightful discussion on the future of defence space capabilities and strategic industry collaborations and the facilities and capabilities offered by Indian companies in the realm.
The final day also witnessed an exclusive session highlighting Italy’s joint space ventures and advancements through the collaboration between the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and ISRO. This session highlighted upcoming mission launches and the leading role of the Italian space research programme. Prof Teodoro Valente, President of ASI, said that, “Italy and India share a common vision to comply with international space treaties for the responsible use of outer space. Together, ASI and ISRO can achieve great heights by pooling resources, knowledge, and expertise.” He also provided useful insights into Italy’s growing space ecosystem, which employs over 8,000 people and which could be taken as a role model by the Indian space ecosystem.
At the concluding ceremony of the ISC 2024, Srinivas Mahankali Rao (MSR), Chief Executive Officer, T-Hub Foundation, Hyderabad, India, in an special address said, “To drive the growth of the space ecosystem, collaboration between government, academia, and industry is essential. Indian startups have a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with their international peers.”
Dr Saurav Agrawal, Director General, Economic Council of India, in his speech highlighted the role played by Peace for economic prosperity of all, he said, “Peace economy is an integration of peace and economy. Optimisation of resources, fair utilisation of goods and services, benefiting the masses, and a human-centric approach are essential to achieve it.”
Lt Gen VG Khandare, highlighted the crucial role of education and skills development for the youth of the country, equipping them to contribute to the growing and challenging space ecosystem, he opined that, “The government is committed to growth, and we all have to put in our best. We should look at current products and have technologies for the next 15-20 years. Educating the youth and up-skilling are essential. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Skill Development should be involved in future SIA events.”
The winner of the Special papers presented at ISC 23024, was also announced on the concluding day. The winning paper, “Crewed Missions to Venus: A Frontier for QUAD Cooperation,” was presented by Guillermo Sohnlein, Founder & Chairman of the Human2Venus Foundation, Atlanta, GA.
In addition, two noteworthy reports, i) DefSAT Conference Deliberation Report: Strategic recommendations from the Defence Space Conference held in January 2024, and ii) IndSpace Wargame Report: Summary and recommendations from the 2nd IndSpace Wargame exercise conducted by SIA-India at Manekshaw Auditorium, New Delhi, following the inaugural exercise during DefSAT 2024, were also released on the concluding day of the ISC.
The third edition of the ISC has established both the ISC and SIA as pivotal platforms for advancing space technology and fostering international collaborations, driving the future of global space innovation, besides giving a fillip to the burgeoning Indian space ecosystem.
