IN-SPACe Leads Indian Delegation to the 17th Australian Space Forum, Extending International Collaboration
By R Anil Kumar
Adelaide, Australia, July 24. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) led a delegation of Indian space startups to the 17th Australian Space Forum in Adelaide on 24th and 25th July. During the two-day event, the delegation highlighted India’s growing prowess in space technology and strengthening international collaboration.
The delegation, led by Dr. Vinod Kumar, Director Promotion, IN-SPACe, and Mr. Shashank Saxena, Deputy Director IN-SPACe, included participants from Indian companies such as Agnikul Cosmos, TakeMe2Space, Dhruva Space, Bellatrix Aerospace, XDLINX Space, mistEOOrbitAid Aerospace and Skyroot Aerospace. During the visit, cutting-edge space projects, products, and services were showcased sparking numerous business-to-business meetings and discussions with Australian counterparts.
Notably, two significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during the forum. The First MoU between HEX20, an Australian Satellite Platform company and OrbitAid, an Indian company specializing in developing satellite life extension solutions. OrbitAID and HEX 20 will collaborate for in-orbit refuelling technology demonstration.
The second MoU was signed between HEX20 and TakeMe2Space, an Indian Startup building AI-first compute & storage satellite infrastructure. TakeMe2Space and Hex20 will collaborate at the intersection of education, space, and AI. As part of the agreement, HEX20 will use TakeMe2Space AI modules and subsystems in their flatsat. TakeMe2Space will give access to its OrbitLab platform for researchers and students to test and run their models on an actual satellite in real-time.
Both the MoUs were signed in the presence of Dr. Vinod Kumar, Director Promotion, IN-SPACe and Mr. Enrico Palermo, Head of Australian Space Agency.
“The Australian Space Forum provided an invaluable platform for Indian space startups to showcase their capabilities and explore potential collaborations with Australian partners. These MoUs represent a significant step towards strengthening ties between our two nations in the space sector.” said Dr. Vinod Kumar, Director Promotion, IN-SPACe.
About IN-SPACe:
Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) is an autonomous nodal agency under Department of Space, Government of India formed on 24 June 2020 to promote, enable, authorize and supervise non-government entities (NGE) to undertake space activities. These activities include manufacturing of launch vehicles and satellites, providing space-based services, establishing a ground station, sharing of space infrastructure & facilities; and establishing new facilities under DOS.
IN-SPACe is currently functioning with three directorates viz., Promotion Directorate (PD), Technical Directorate (TD) and Program Management and Authorization Directorate (PMAD) and Legal, Finance and Administration Wing with its headquarters at Ahmedabad.
