Indian space stocks take off

India recently celebrated a significant milestone in their space aspirations with a successful soft lunar landing as part of the Chandrayaan space program. The significance of this achievement is perhaps underlined by the very recent failure of the Roscosmos Luna-25 mission that attempted the same goal. Going into space is hard, and getting to the moon is even harder.

The hard work of the Indian Space Research Organisation (IRSO) has been rewarded not just with national prestige and a place in the history books - in the lead up to the landing, Indian space stocks surged, signalling an interest in further investment in India's space economy. Included in the companies that benefited are suppliers providing mission critical technology, such as Centum Electronics and Godrej Aerospace.  Given that Chandrayaan-3 was a success, it is hopeful that this initial speculation-driven enthusiasm will be sustained.

With increasing investment and technological development comes increased opportunities and competition in technology-led space market.  Innovators within India may seek to export their own new technology to the other space-faring markets, or import hardware or ideas from more established players to further their own mission goals.  Either way, developers of cutting-edge space technology would benefit from reviewing their international Intellectual Property strategy to best protect their own interests in view of what is likely to be a sustained technology drive within India.