Reuters reported in February that three consortiums – Alpha Design Technologies, a unit of Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, state-backed Bharat Dynamics and HAL – were the finalists to acquire India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology.

“Fighter jet maker HAL had applied independently,” Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said in a statement today, without disclosing the deal value.

Reuters reported earlier that HAL was expected to pay about ₹3 billion Indian (about US$35 million).

“By winning the bid to make the rocket, capable of carrying 500kg payloads to low-Earth orbit, HAL will have the capability to independently build, own, and commercialise SSLV launches,” said Pawan Goenka, the head of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre.

About 20 companies had initially expressed interest in bidding for the SSLV, the first privatisation of its kind under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy drive to open up India’s space industry.

The global low Earth orbit launch vehicle market was valued at US$13.9 billion in 2023 and is estimated to grow to about US$44 billion by 2032, according to Global Market Insights.

India, which accounts for only 2% of the global space economy, is eyeing a fivefold expansion to US$44 billion by the end of the decade.