IN-SPACe seeks wider use of indigenous chips in space

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) is seeking wider use of chips from the government-run Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali by Indian space startups, industry and research organisations. The Economic Times reported that the agency urged participants at an October 13 webinar to adopt the laboratory’s semiconductor products for spacecraft and launch vehicles.

According to the report’s accessible synopsis, laboratory officials presented capabilities covering chip design, fabrication, testing, packaging, quality assurance and failure analysis. The appeal concerns sourcing components for Indian space hardware; it does not establish that a private company has placed an order.

The laboratory’s official event page names IN-SPACe as organiser and the Semiconductor Laboratory, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, as its partner. Its October 13 agenda allocated an hour to the laboratory’s overview and product portfolio, followed by questions. The listed audience included startups, small businesses, semiconductor manufacturers, researchers and representatives of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The laboratory’s website lists voltage regulators, data converters, amplifiers, drivers, sensors, memories and application-specific integrated circuits among its products. It describes an eight-inch silicon-chip fabrication line and a six-inch line for microelectromechanical systems.

The space connection predates this outreach. In March 2025, the Indian Space Research Organisation reported that its Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre had developed the VIKRAM3201 and KALPANA3201 microprocessors with the laboratory. The agency said VIKRAM3201 was fabricated there and qualified for launch-vehicle conditions.

The event agenda and accessible current report reviewed for this dispatch identify no private customer, purchase quantity, price or delivery timetable. They document an adoption appeal and a product introduction, while the extent of subsequent procurement remains unverified.