India's space regulator IN-SPACe releases plans for 30 launches over next 14 months

India’s space regulator, IN-SPACe said on Thursday that around 30 space launches are slated for the fourth quarter of 2023-24 and the following fiscal year. Among these launches, seven will be conducted by private startups Skyroot and Agnikul.

The Integrated Launch Manifesto, announced by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), outlines various missions, including seven launches associated with the Gaganyaan mission. Additionally, there are plans for two launches each of ISRO’s newest rocket, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), and the well-established PSLV developed by an industry consortium.

Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos is scheduled to launch its first 3-D printed rocket Agnibaan-SOrTeD for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year. The maiden flight of the Agnibaan rocket will be a sub-orbital mission.

The other launches this fiscal year include that of GSLV-F14 to put the INSAT-3DS satellite in orbit to augment weather forecasting, disaster management, and related meteorological services.

The third development flight of SSLV is also expected to be by March and it will carry a primary satellite of ISRO and two other payloads, Space Rickshaw and IITMSat, the INSPACe said.

Aerospace is expected to carry out four launches of its home-built rocket Vikram-1-1 during the next fiscal while Agnikul Cosmos has lined up two launches of Agnibaan. In 2024-25 ISRO will undertake three missions each of PSLV and GSLV and seven launches related to the Gaganyaan project, including the test vehicle.

The NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO is expected to carry out four launches of PSLV, one LVM-3 mission and two launches of SSLV.

Some start-ups such as Digantara Research & Technology, Dhruvaspace, Space Kidz India and academic institutes including IIT-Madras, Manipal Institute of Technology and C V Raman Global University Odisha have lined up launches during the next fiscal.