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Policy | 8/28/2025

ISRO powers India's AI future with five tech transfers

ISRO, with IN-SPACe, has transferred five foundational technologies to Indian companies, bolstering private space work, domestic manufacturing and future AI-enabled innovation. The TTAs bring the total to 98, underscoring a shift toward import substitution and broad commercial applications in biomedicine and energy.

ISRO's five tech transfers: a practical step toward India's AI-ready future

Like swapping parts in a car to build a better one from scratch, India’s space program is moving from silent lab work to bustling factory floors. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), working through IN-SPACe and guided by its commercial arm NSIL, has signed five Technology Transfer Agreements (TTAs) with Indian companies. The goal is simple in theory but broad in ambition: turn decades of space research into commercial tools that can drive the country’s private sector, strengthen domestic supply chains, and seed new AI-enabled applications across industries.

What happened

  • Five TTAs were signed, lifting the total count of ISRO technology transfers to 98 as part of a strategic push to democratize access to space-grade tech. The formal handover is executed via tripartite agreements among NSIL, the recipient company, and IN-SPACe, with the signing ceremony held at IN-SPACe's Ahmedabad headquarters. These agreements are designed not just as one-off handovers, but as ongoing partnerships with structured handholding to support absorption and commercialization.
  • Two technologies highlighted in the latest batch illustrate the mix of hardware and materials ISRO is making available:
    • The Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) Multi-Chip Module, developed at the Space Applications Centre (SAC), enables multiple semiconductor chips to be packaged into a single compact module. Pune-based Voltix Semicon Pvt. Ltd. intends to apply this packaging technology to biomedical manufacturing, aiming to scale up RT-PCR kit production that currently relies on imported components.
    • The RTV Silicone Single-Part Adhesive, created by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has found a recipient in Ahmedabad-based Crest Speciality Resins Pvt. Ltd., which plans to use the room-temperature-curable adhesive to bond solar panels in domestic solar deployments. This procurement could lower costs and strengthen the solar supply chain by reducing imports.
  • While these two examples show the direct substitution of imports, the broader set of transfers spans other ISRO centers and industrial needs. The package includes advanced inertial sensors for launch vehicles and geospatial models for agriculture—tools with clear upside for private firms seeking to build AI-enabled sensors, data analytics, and decision-support platforms. One recipient, Amnex Info Technologies, received geospatial models that can underpin pest forewarning and yield estimation in agriculture, a domain ripe for AI-powered precision farming.

Source context and terms of use for the TTAs are outlined in the NSIL-IN-SPACe partnership framework, which aims to provide continuing handholding and support for successful technology absorption. For the full policy and historical context, see the ISRO and IN-SPACe materials summarized in the cited sources.

How the program is structured

  • Tripartite agreements: The collaboration brings together NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the recipient industry, and IN-SPACe. Through this structure, ISRO aims for a smoother transition from laboratory innovation to commercial production.
  • Handholding and ongoing support: IN-SPACe, along with ISRO and NSIL, has promised to accompany the recipient companies through the absorption phase—training, process adaptation, regulatory navigation, and iterations as needed to scale.
  • A broader, policy-driven posture: This batch of five transfers follows a previous set that included ten technologies handed to six firms, signaling a consistent push to leverage space-derived tech as a national asset rather than a collection of standalone inventions.

Why this matters for India’s AI and industry

  • Import substitution and resilience: Many components and materials were previously imported. Domestic production reduces exposure to global supply chain shocks and aligns with the government’s push for self-reliance.
  • Building an industrial ecosystem: The program isn’t just about one-off tech licenses; it’s about nurturing an ecosystem where private players can experiment, scale, and serve adjacent sectors like healthcare, energy, and agriculture.
  • AI-enabling hardware and data models: Even when the transfer itself isn’t AI-specific, the hardware and data models it enables offer a ready-made foundation for AI systems. The LTCC-based modules, for instance, can power compact, high-performance edge devices used in medical diagnostics and patient monitoring. The geospatial models can become the core data layer for AI-driven agricultural platforms, enabling predictive analytics, optimized resource use, and more precise agro-management.

The broader arc: from space to everyday tech

The ISRO-IN-SPACe NSIL pipeline is painting a long-term picture: space lab breakthroughs turning into consumer and enterprise tech that can lift entire sectors. The chairman of IN-SPACe has framed the transfers as a signal of growing Indian industry confidence and capability, with the potential to unlock novel applications across different domains as companies scale the research into mass-market products.

Looking ahead

  • The five transfers add to a growing pipeline of technology handovers that match India’s economic and strategic goals: strengthen indigenous capabilities, reduce the import bill, and foster industry-led innovation.
  • While not every technology will directly map to AI today, the ecosystem it helps cultivate will likely accelerate AI adoption in health, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing, particularly as startups and established firms leverage these new tools to build edge-ready devices and AI-enabled platforms.
  • The national goal is to position India as a global manufacturing hub for high-tech know-how, built on a foundation of state-supported research and private-sector participation.

In short

This isn’t just a signing ceremony. It’s a deliberate bet on a future where space-derived tech becomes a backbone for domestic manufacturing, reliable supply chains, and AI-enabled innovation. As more TTAs flow through the NSIL-IN-SPACe channel, the line between space science and everyday industry grows closer—an everyday reminder of how exploration can propel everyday enterprise.

Sources: 1, [2](https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEb66X0MT6CU5FEcgjBkRUGPRl7PGKNE6hOFZdWQ6okUxYQZQFz_JD9EhHV8GFKDN33VZMsgwepw4KWII5pEWlMSGQL_STD0WP678RV5yOD76yFhu4aSaL9unAOM3V--u2RNZYMh5BvyXPjHQvd2kS2Yr16HIK4DClc9cwLztZ_tTbzBJm__Di6a5XwyQuNlGbKeD30YlOuaeNzg-wANaFfPQjTZoVINEhFOA==, 3, 4, 5, [6](https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEmZHx1Az5sS-hwjfex8vq-8su2IqWYyYvADM-oyaNhm4WPks6FlA0qOgv6iizIOaXxyrlYQE9oZKpE3pdoLbUehpY5zTjE6ZjbOKvXlMct9cwLztZ_tTbzBJm__Di6a5XwyQuNlGbKeD30YlOuaeNzg-wANaFfPQjTZoVINEhFOA==, 7

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