Wired News: India's Cut-Price Space Program

Wired News: India's Cut-Price Space Program

Though more than 50 countries have space programs, very few have the ability to plan and execute their own missions. Outside of Europe and the United States, the only significant players in space are China, Brazil, Japan, Turkey and India.

"We can launch a remote-sensing satellite for half the price of anyone else," said Shridhara Murhi, executive director of Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO. It's the sort of frugality and ingenuity that has begun to attract international investors.

The demand for space imaging and communications is huge, and yet there are only a few players in the game. Last year, Antrix brought in more than $500 million, which was more than half of the operating budget for all of ISRO. It is aiming for a 10 percent market share in less than a decade.