Editorial desk

Policy

The institutions, rules and long-range choices shaping how India operates in an increasingly crowded space domain.

Skyroot's Kalam-250 rocket motor firing horizontally on a test stand at ISRO's SDSC SHAR facility

Policy

Andhra Pradesh order allotted Skyroot 294.67 acres for Tirupati rocket plant

The September 2025 order set the land allotment rate at ₹5 lakh per acre and recorded a ₹400-crore proposal; Telugu360 reported Nara Lokesh citing the rounded 300-acre figure on August 25, 2026.

31 August 20263 min read

Prime Minister Narendra Modi looking at a space-technology display with startup leaders in a meeting room

Policy

Modi meets 20 space-startup leaders, urging wider uses of their technology

The August 21 meeting put the private space sector before the prime minister, but the official account announced no new funding, authorisations, contracts or binding policy changes.

28 August 20264 min read

Conceptual illustration of satellites above India linking to a gateway and a generic mobile phone

India space policy

Starlink’s reported Gen 2 filing adds a constellation step in India

A reported application to IN-SPACe would seek authority to provide Gen 2 capacity in India, but it does not settle the separate spectrum and security steps before customer service can begin.

27 August 20264 min read

Conceptual illustration of communications satellites linking India to a ground gateway and rural homes

India space policy

India’s satellite broadband licences are not commercial launch approvals

Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite have licences and provisional spectrum for compliance work, but the government’s latest record does not put any of them into a nationwide consumer rollout.

24 August 20265 min read

ISRO, IN-SPACe, NSIL and HAL officials holding the signed SSLV technology-transfer documents at ISRO Headquarters

Space policy

ISRO plans gradual transfer of mature rocket manufacturing to industry

PSLV and LVM3 transfer calls were already limited to private Indian entities. The change concerns who builds and commercialises mature vehicles, not an immediate end to ISRO missions or government launch work.

22 August 20264 min read

Diagram linking one already-compromised cFS application in NOS3 to five tested paths: control of a peer app, misleading sender identity, a command to unrelated simulated hardware, an action that looks legitimate in operator data, and altered behaviour that resumes after reset

Space cybersecurity

Security preprint tests five cFS privilege-abuse paths in NASA simulator

Researchers used a malicious onboard component in NOS3 to restart peer apps, spoof identity, command unrelated hardware, blur operator attribution and resume altered behaviour after reset. The study reports a controlled experiment, not an operational spacecraft breach.

20 August 20266 min read

Editorial data graphic comparing about 33,000 exposed hosts in Starlink’s autonomous system with a 1.78 million-host non-Starlink sample, highlighting ninefold and sixfold operating-system vulnerability gaps in Haiti and Colombia and regional weak-protocol clusters

Space cybersecurity

Preprint finds regional security gaps among exposed Starlink-connected hosts

A Censys snapshot tied about 33,000 exposed IPs inside Starlink’s network to higher operating-system vulnerability and legacy-protocol rates in several regions, but it did not test Starlink infrastructure, prove exploitability or establish cause.

20 August 20265 min read

Line chart showing cumulative growth of spacecraft, rocket bodies and fragmented orbital objects through 2025

Space safety

India documents start of debris-removal precursor demonstrations

The August 13 parliamentary reply connects policy and on-orbit trials, but names no target object, removal attempt, operational system or timetable.

20 August 20265 min read

Federal Register page for NASA’s procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, identifying 14 CFR Part 1216 and document 2026-13245

Space policy

NASA’s interim NEPA rule takes effect with 19 adopted exclusions

Part 1216 now codifies previously adopted exclusions, one- and two-year review deadlines, page caps and a defined role for commercial project sponsors.

20 August 20266 min read

H3 rocket lifting off at night carrying QZS-7 and the second U.S. geosynchronous-orbit monitoring sensor

U.S.-Japan space security

U.S.-Japan GEO sensor pair is in orbit, but readiness remains unconfirmed

The second U.S. optical payload launched with Japan’s QZS-7, completing the two-launch plan. The Space Force named an operator and data destination but did not announce first light, checkout completion or operational acceptance.

19 August 20265 min read

Horizontal bars compare 2025 modelled launch costs per kilogram for six regions, with India highest at $13,302 and the United States lowest at $3,225

Launch economics

India’s $13,302-per-kg launch estimate uses capacity, not payload flown

A new dataset ranks India highest among six major launching regions in 2025. Its result divides estimated flyaway costs by vehicles’ maximum LEO capacity, leaving prices, mission budgets and actual payload masses outside the measure.

17 August 20266 min read

Policy

Government data puts private space investment at $618.5 million

The latest Parliament figures show capital and approvals rising after the 2020 reforms, while official documents leave key definitions unresolved and publish conflicting authorisation totals.

13 August 20266 min read