India's strategy for commercial space: data, small satellites, and low-cost launches

India's strategy for commercial space: data, small satellites, and low-cost launches

FILE PHOTO: India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III-M1 blasts off carrying Chandrayaan-2, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, India, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/P. Ravikumar/File photo

India has a plan to carve out a beachhead in the battle for commercial space, officials say: crunching space data, building small satellites and launching them cheaply into orbit rather than challenging heavyweights such as SpaceX head-on.