Why in news? The government  approved the Indian Space Policy 2023 that seeks to institutionalise the private sector participation in the space sector, with ISRO focusing on research and development of advanced space technologies.

Highlights:

• The Indian Space Policy-2023, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also delineated the roles and responsibilities of ISRO, space sector PSU NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).
• The policy will allow the private sector to take part in end-to-end space activities that include building satellites, rockets and launch vehicles, data collection and dissemination.
• Strategic activities related to the space sector will be carried out by NSIL, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space, that will work in a demand-driven mode.
• The INSPACe, created recently, will be the interface between Indian Space Research Organisation and non-governmental entities.
• The policy also spells out the framework for the private sector to use ISRO facilities for a small charge and encourages them to invest in creating new infrastructure for the sector.
• ISRO will not do any operational and production work for the space sector and focus its energies on developing new technologies, new systems and research and development.
• The operational part of ISRO’s missions will be moved to the NewSpace India Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space.
• The Cabinet also approved setting up of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) at Maharashtra’s Hingoli. The observatory is meant to detect and track cosmic gravitational waves.