India’s satellite launch cost 4x US, says Cambridge study; space dept source contradicts report

NEW DELHI: A 2026 University of Cambridge study has found that India’s per-kilogram launch costs are four times higher than America’s and, in fact, the costliest in the world. However, a highly-placed source in the Department of Space told TOI that the study has not factored in India’s subsidies, saving cost in transport and logistic costs and space manoeuvre costs.

A peer-reviewed paper published in the respected Elsevier journal Economics Letters by economists Alessio Terzi of the University of Cambridge and Francesco Nicoli of Politecnico di Torino, Turin, points at a novel database covering more than 6,740 rocket launches between 1960 and 2025. The standardised dataset of rocket launches has covered 16 geographical entities, including all the major spacefaring nations: US, Russia, China, India, Europe, and Japan. It includes over 330 different rocket configurations and 4,405 launches.

According to the article, at the end of 2025, the cost of launching a satellite from India stood at $13,302 (Rs 12.7 lakh) per kg aboard rockets available in the country, an amount that was more than four times the figure of US, wherein the cost is $3,225 (Rs 3.1 lakh). The study finds the US to be the lowest among all the markets studied. As per the study, India is more expensive than the European Union, Russia, China and Japan. After India, Europe’s rocket launch cost is the next most expensive at $9,897 (Rs 9.5 lakh) per kg.

However, a highly-placed source in the Dept of Space told TOI that the study has not factored in various concessions provided by Isro’s commercial wing NSIL. The Indian space agency gives “satellite customers 30% subsidy on cost of launches”. “Secondly, Indian customers save money in logistics and transport when launched from Sriharikota. Third foreign launchers normally send all satellites from one launcher to the same orbit, which leads to rise in launch cost as satellites piggyback on the primary payload have to be manoeuvred to their respective orbit,” the source said.

Moreover, the Department of Space (DoS) and IN-SPACe has rolled out these financial incentives through two parallel frameworks: the Launch Services Price-support Scheme (LSPS) and Price Support Scheme. Both programmes are designed to significantly reduce the entry barriers for Indian non-govt entities. IN-SPACe also provides financial support ranging from 30% to 100% for satellite launches and related space infrastructure under its Rs 800 crore LSPS: up to 50% support for utilising Isro and Department of Space launch facilities; a 30% subsidy on launch costs (capped at $3,000/kg) for small vehicles carrying up to 500 kg; full 100% funding (capped at $13,000/kg for up to four missions) for payloads up to 120 kg.

The Cambridge research also said, “The expense of launching cargo into space will plummet over the next few years, with the cost of reaching orbit forecast to more than halve between now and the end of the decade, and fall around 93% by 2040. The cost of sending a kilogram of payload into low Earth orbit, an average of $3,868 last year, is set to fall more than 58% to just $1,569 by 2030, and could reach as little as 273 US dollars per kilo by 2040, the study suggests.
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