National Space Act for regulating space activities in India

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha today informed that Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has initiated a process of formulating a National Space Act.

Features of the Act :

• To regulating the space activities in India,
• To facilitate the enhanced levels of private sector participation in space activities in India and
• Offering more commercial opportunities for private sector in India.

Towards this, a two day national workshop was held at ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore during Jan 16-17, 2015 with the participation of experts across the country. A draft version has been prepared, which is under consultation with experts

Agreements, Treaties, MOUs Signed by ISRO :

• India has currently signed co-operation agreements with 35 countries for peaceful uses of outer space.
• ISRO is presently implementing the space debris mitigation guidelines endorsed by the United Nations in design and operation of all its space systems.
• Five international treaties on outer space activities formulated under the aegis of United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space are already in place. India is a Member State in four major treaties.

About ISRO :

• Full Form : Indian Space Research Organisation.
• Managed by Department of Space which reports to Prime minister of India.
• Headquarters : Bangalore
• Established in the year : 1969
• Chairman :  A.S.Kiran Kumar

About United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space ( COPUOS)

• Established in the year : 1959
• Number of Member states : 77
• Objective : To review the scope of international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space, to devise programmes in this field to be undertaken under United Nations auspices, to encourage continued research and the dissemination of information on outer space matters, and to study legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space.