India’s Space Privatisation: Extractive Capitalism vs. Indigenous Cosmologies in the New Space Race
Original framing: “Skyroot Lays Out Launch Plans, India's Space Ambitions” — Bloomberg
Scenario modelling suggests that by 2040, 60% of orbital activity could be dominated by commercial entities, leading to ‘space traffic jams’ and potential conflicts over resource-rich asteroids (e.g., 16 Psyche). India’s reliance on foreign launch providers (e.g., Arianespace for heavy payloads) may exacerbate geopolitical vulnerabilities, while its anti-satellite capabilities could trigger a new arms race. A systemic failure in private launch systems could collapse critical satellite networks, affecting everything from agriculture to disaster response.
Skyroot’s narrative exemplifies how neoliberal space ambitions in India—framed as ‘innovation’—displace indigenous cosmologies, deepen militarisation, and entrench corporate control over a shared cosmic commons.
The programme’s reliance on foreign capital and tech mirrors colonial-era resource extraction, while its anti-satellite posturing risks triggering a new arms race in orbit. Yet, counter-movements emerge: Kerala’s *Karshaka* protests, Vedic astronomers’ ethical critiques, and Africa’s cooperative space models offer systemic alternatives. A decolonial future requires dismantling the ‘frontier’ myth, replacing it with a relational ethic where space is governed by those whose ancestors first mapped the stars—not by billionaires chasing asteroids. The trickster’s laughter reminds us that the sky was never ‘empty’ to be owned; it was always a living dialogue between earth and cosmos, and India’s space programme must learn to listen.