Space industry funding in India falls 55% in 2024, data show

BENGALURU: Funding in India’s space sector, a key part of the country’s ambitions to become a global superpower, plummeted by 55 per cent in 2024 to US$59.1 million from US$130.2 million the previous year, according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn.

The drop, which came amid a global 20 per cent decline in space sector investment, marks the first fall in at least five years. Globally, space companies raised about US$28 billion over the last five years, while their Indian counterparts secured approximately US$354 million in the same period, Tracxn data showed.

India’s space industry has gained global attention with the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing and the Aditya-L1 solar probe launch. Its private space sector growth is increasingly seen as crucial for achieving the long-term goal a US$44 billion private space economy.

The government has sought to stimulate the sector by approving a 10 billion rupee (US$119 million) fund in October 2024 to support space startups and setting plans to expand India’s share of the global commercial space market by 2033.

Industry participants said they expected to see a pickup in funding in 2025.

“The next 12 months will be crucial in shaping the future of India’s space tech startups,” said Vishesh Rajaram, managing partner at Speciale Invest, which backs companies such as Agnikul Cosmos, GalaxEye, and Inspecity.

In 2023, India’s space sector hit a funding peak of US$130.2 million, a 32.9 per cent rise from 2022, driven by initiatives supporting satellite technology, launch vehicles, and space exploration.

“The decline aligns with the natural investment cycles of the industry,” said Pawan Chandana, founder of Skyroot Aerospace. “As leading companies approach critical milestones in 2025, investment activity is likely to pick up.”

Over the five years from 2020 to 2024, Indian space startups raised US$353.5 million across 72 funding rounds. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has also projected a 20 per cent-30 per cent increase in its budget to support deep space exploration and heavy-lift rockets.