Karnataka Launches India's First Space Tech CoE

Karnataka escorts in a NewSpace milestone for India's "NewSpace" ecosystem by being the first to open a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Space Technology at the state-level in the country.

The centre has been conceived as a result of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) and the SatCom Industry Association (SIA-India), where the CoE means that the aerospace as well as the space sectors will be the areas of technological advancements where KITS will be working along these lines of research.

As a nodal point for research & development, startup incubation, and skilled human resource training, the facility located in Bengaluru shall help in bringing under one roof the government departments, industry leaders, academic institutions, and startups. The key focus areas include MOD, satellite components, AI-powered data analytics, and creating a thriving NewSpace startup ecosystem.

This step is one of the several May 2025 MoUs set by Karnataka with IN-SPACe to create a Centre of Excellence for Space Technologies and establish a public-private space manufacturing park that aims to help India achieve its goal of taking a share from the predicted Rs 1.8 lakh crore domestic space market by 2033.

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Leading industry personalities, including startups like Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos, as well as well-established companies such as HAL, BEL, and BHEL, would be able to take advantage of the upgraded infrastructure, prototype funding, and collaboration opportunities.

Karnataka’s CoE is a strong signal for India’s focus on building domestic space capabilities and plays a significant role in creating the space for innovation, entrepreneurship, and global competitiveness in the sector of space technology.