India’s bid to lead a BRICS-plus space ecosystem is being built on clear rules for private participation, liberal capital flows, and data-sharing diplomacy—backed by an operational space agency that keeps adding scientific and commercial opportunities. The Indian Space Policy 2023 puts non-government entities on a formal footing via IN-SPACe, opening the value chain from satellites and launch to ground segments and downstream applications; ISRO’s September calls for new science teams—ranging from Chandrayaan-3 data use to archival Venus analysis—signal that the pipeline of work is real, current, and accessible. Together they convert rhetoric into lanes for researchers and startups.
Capital has been invited in with unusual clarity. The government’s updated FDI framework—explicitly permitting 100% foreign investment in the space sector with activity-wise entry routes—was reiterated in an official brief last updated on October 12, 2025, a signal to global partners that India wants technology and term sheets, not just MoUs. That policy complements the creation of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial arm, which contracts industry-built PSLVs and sells transponder and earth-observation capacity—turning missions into cash flows and giving private manufacturers repeatable demand.
On the cooperation front, Delhi is threading space into BRICS-plus strategy through shared assets and governance. India heads into its 2026 BRICS chairship after a September 26, 2025 joint statement in New York that underlined collective initiatives—an opening to push remote-sensing constellations, ground-segment interoperability, and application sharing for agriculture, disaster response and urban planning across an expanded bloc. The BRICS system has already flagged deeper space collaboration this year; India’s blend of affordable access and open data policy gives that agenda a practical home.
Crucially, startups are no longer spectators. IN-SPACe reports dozens of authorisations and MoUs issued through early 2025, while industry tie-ups are moving beyond photo-ops: the June 2025 MoU between U.S.-based Axiom Space and Hyderabad’s Skyroot aims to expand access to low-Earth orbit—leveraging Indian launch capability and global station infrastructure. In parallel, official analyses this year describe a fast-growing domestic startup base, helped by the policy and FDI resets; ISRO’s own documents point to a long runway, from a national space station concept to human-spaceflight follow-ons, creating multi-year demand for platforms, payloads and services.
What lifts this beyond aspiration is cadence. September 2025 alone saw ISRO open fresh “Announcements of Opportunity” windows for scientists to mine new and archival datasets, while NSIL keeps the industrial engine engaged through consortium-built launchers under a GOCO model. The policy side has teeth too: IN-SPACe’s 2024 norms set an April 1, 2025 authorisation requirement for non-Indian satellites to offer capacity in India, clarifying market access and spectrum use. This mix—more calls, clearer rules, defined commercial roles—reduces uncertainty for founders and BRICS partners alike.
The near-term prize is leadership in affordable access and actionable data for the Global South. India’s cost discipline in launch and spacecraft, plus a regulator that is publishing targets and approvals, gives BRICS-plus a credible convenor for pooled sensing and common applications. With formal BRICS processes gathering momentum into 2026, and with ISRO, IN-SPACe, and NSIL aligning policy, authorisations, and industry output, India’s orbit is widening. The centre of gravity is shifting from demonstration to throughput—and that is where leadership is earned.
- Policy lane: Indian Space Policy 2023 operationalised via IN-SPACe to authorise non-government entities across the value chain.
- Fresh opportunities (Sept 2025): ISRO “Announcements of Opportunity” for Chandrayaan-3 science and Venus archival data analysis.
- Capital lane (updated Oct 12, 2025): 100% FDI allowed in space sector with activity-wise entry routes.
- Commercial engine: NSIL contracting industry-built PSLVs and offering satcom/EO capacity; GOCO model for launcher production.
- BRICS-plus moment: Sept 26, 2025 joint statement under India’s incoming 2026 chairship—platform to scale space cooperation.
- Startup signal: Axiom–Skyroot MoU (June 2025) to expand access to LEO—a template for India-global collaboration.