Pariksha SaathiDr Jitendra Singh inaugurates Cosmoserve Space's Base 1 facility in Hyderabad for active space debris removal and announces a vision of debris-free space by 2030
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on 5 November 2026 announced a vision of achieving debris-free space by 2030, while inaugurating, virtually from Kartavya Bhawan, New Delhi, Cosmoserve Space's Base 1 facility in Hyderabad for active space debris removal and in-orbit servicing. According to the Minister, India is emerging among the early global pioneers in space debris removal, with an Indian startup advancing technologies to make outer space safer and more sustainable. The inauguration ceremony was held at VSD Tech Park, Gachibowli; Base 1 is spread across approximately 14,800 square feet; space robots are designed, built, tested under space conditions and operated through mission control there, and it houses orbital rendezvous and capture labs, space robotics innovation labs, microgravity simulation platforms and satellite integration clean rooms. The Minister said the company's Mission EMBRACE had conducted an in-space test of soft robotic petals in July 2026, within a year of the company's formation, and that its partnerships with Pixel for satellite systems, Dhruv Aerospace Netherlands for propulsion systems and Skyroot Aerospace for launch services show an emerging culture of end-to-end collaboration. Crediting the Prime Minister's space reforms and the establishment of NewSpace India Limited and IN-SPACe, he said India's space economy has grown to nearly USD 9 billion and is projected to reach USD 40-45 billion in the coming decade, while the space startup ecosystem has expanded from a single-digit number to nearly 450 enterprises. Telangana's Minister for IT and Industries D. Sridhar Babu attended as Guest of Honour.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
On 16 April 2024 the then ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, S. Somanath declared India's intent of Debris Free Space Missions (DFSM) at the inaugural plenary of the 42nd Annual Meet of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Co-ordination Committee (IADC) in Bengaluru. According to ISRO, the initiative aims to achieve debris-free space missions by all Indian space actors, governmental and non-governmental, by 2030, and India encourages other space actors to follow it. The guidelines include avoiding debris generation during the operational life of satellites and launch vehicles and in the post-mission disposal phase; avoiding on-orbit collisions and break-ups; avoiding intentional break-ups with long-lived debris; and complying with post-mission disposal of spent orbital stages and satellites with a success probability of more than 99%, with either controlled re-entry or de-orbiting to a lower orbit with less than 5 years of remaining orbital life at the end of operational life. Missions are also to treat the 400 km +/- 30 km band as the orbital band for human space missions. Implementation was to start by the beginning of 2025, annual progress was to be evaluated, and the ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM) was named the nodal point.
Reference: ISRO, 'India's Intent on Debris-Free Space Missions - Explained', 19 April 2024
Check yourself: under ISRO's Debris Free Space Missions (DFSM) initiative declared on 16 April 2024, by which year are the missions of all Indian space actors to be debris-free, and which ISRO system is the nodal point for implementing it?
By 2030; the ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM).
Revision task: from this release, separate what was done (the inauguration of Base 1, its size and labs, and Mission EMBRACE's in-space test) from what is a vision or projection (debris-free space by 2030, the space economy in the coming decade); note the startup count and the three partners named. From the note, list the date, forum and place where DFSM was declared, its target year, the post-mission disposal rules and the nodal system. Note that the release does not link the Minister's vision to DFSM.
Test yourself
Inaugurating Cosmoserve Space's Base 1 facility in Hyderabad for active space debris removal on 5 November 2026, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced a vision of achieving debris-free space by which year?
Show the answer
Answer: 2030
Dr Jitendra Singh announced a vision of achieving debris-free space by 2030 - a vision, not a completed task. What was done on the day was the inauguration of Base 1, an approximately 14,800 square feet facility in Hyderabad, where space robots are designed, built, tested and operated; the company's Mission EMBRACE had conducted an in-space test of soft robotic petals in July 2026.
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