By Nivedita Bhattacharjee

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), India’s largest defense manufacturer by revenue, is seeking to expand its aerospace division to strengthen its presence in the country’s booming private space sector, a a senior executive said Thursday.

The move follows the government’s recent efforts to open up its space industry – traditionally led by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) – to private companies. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing and the Aditya-L1 solar mission has created new opportunities for companies with advanced engineering capabilities.

“We clearly see an economy growing there. It may be difficult to predict how quickly it will grow and what its shape will be, but what we can say with certainty is that we will take advantage of our 50 years of relationship with ISRO for the launcher manufacturing sector,” said AT Ramchandani, senior vice president and head of precision engineering and systems, L&T.

Details of L&T’s expansion plans have not yet been made public. With private companies now eligible to design, build and operate launch services, companies such as L&T are well-positioned to benefit from the growing demand for commercial satellite launches.

India expects its commercial space industry to be worth $44 billion within a decade and is encouraging private companies to invest in the sector.

L&T has long been involved in building key components for Indian missiles, Mars and Moon missions, satellites and artillery.

It currently manufactures the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the mainstay of ISRO’s satellite launch program, through a consortium with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

The first launch of the privately built PSLV is planned for early 2025, with each rocket costing about 2 billion rupees ($23.8 million), Ramchandani said.

India’s plan to privatize its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) program – aimed at providing cost-effective launch solutions for smaller payloads of up to 500 kg – has also attracted interest from L&T and others.

“The general idea of ​​SSLV is that you should be able to do about 12 launches per year. Beyond that, there is potential to scale up to one launch every 15 days,” Ramchandani said, adding that at around $15,000 per kg it will be a profitable launch choice.

Polaris Market Research analysts expect the global space launch services market to reach $43.94 billion by 2032, up from $13.63 billion in 2022.

Ramchandani did not comment on the expected market size for L&T or the specific investment in scaling, but said the company intended to be frugal.

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