Former ISRO chief says, 'It is necessary to increase the commercial use of space technology to accelerate economic growth

India's space sector is on the verge of a paradigm shift, but space technology will have to be utilized more commercially to drive economic development. This was said by former Chief of ISRO S Somnath on Thursday.

Speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-organized conference, the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) cited reforms that would enable India to utilize space technology to its full capacity.

Somnath clarified that India had made significant progress in space technology but that their campaign had been mostly limited to government initiatives.

"The use of space technology has been focused on social and government programs. Now it is important to bring it into the commercial sector and monetize it," he said. He pointed out that the reach of space applications in India is limited and only 10 percent of the potential market can be achieved.

Somnath said, "India is a huge country with 145 crore people, but the reach of applications is very low. We are serving only in limited domains." He stressed the need to convert space technology into viable commercial opportunities. The former ISRO chief gave examples of sectors like fisheries, where satellite data can revolutionize traditional methods.