A Tokyo startup choosing an Indian rocket for a sensitive rendezvous-and-inspection mission says as much about cost and cadence as it does about geopolitics. With India liberalising space investment and industrialising launch, payloads that need bespoke orbits — not mass rideshares — are starting to look south to Sriharikota.
On September 11, 2025, Astroscale said it has signed a launch agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to fly its ISSA-J1 in-situ space situational awareness mission on a PSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in spring 2027. The company framed the decision after “evaluations of more than ten launch service providers,” citing technical capability,
