Australia’s space delegation at Bengaluru Space Expo (BSX) 2026 arrived with more than trade optics. A 12-member group spanning launch services to radio astronomy is exploring India not just as a market,
but as a ‘manufacturing base’ that helps Australia diversify its supply chains. The visit was backed by the Australian Government’s “Accessing New Markets Initiative,” a programme explicitly built to diversify Australia’s export supply chain.
Nathan Davis, Trade and Investment Commissioner at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) in an interaction with News18 spoke about what’s driving this shift, why several headline deals– including LatConnect 60’s tie-up with NSIL and Space Angel’s multiple agreements– remain at the MoU stage, and why Austrade isn’t setting hard targets for how many deals convert into contracts. Edited excerpts:
Q: This is a 12-member delegation covering everything from launch services to radio astronomy. What’s Austrade’s read on which of these capability areas has the strongest near-term commercial fit with India’s space market?
Nathan Davis: What we’ve seen across BSX this week is that each company has had deep interest in their technologies and capabilities. Each capability is different in terms of timelines– realisation in the near term relies not just on the technology or service, but how integrable and aligned it is to a partner’s existing infrastructure and needs. Some conversations discussed near-term opportunities that aligned well, others built excitement that will develop out over a longer period. But the differences in consistency between near-term and long-term was not bound by capability, but rather partnership match.
Q: Several agreements at BSX: LatConnect 60/NSIL, Space Angel’s multiple tie-ups- are still at MoU or “intent to collaborate” stage. What’s a realistic timeline to see these convert into binding commercial contracts?
Nathan Davis: I would not wish to provide an assessment of these MoUs, as some are enshrining already deep conversation into an MoU, whereas others are looking long-term at a deep and lasting partnership. So it is too early to tell, but Austrade looks forward to supporting each agreement commercialise.
Q: You’ve described India’s ecosystem as offering “scale, ambition and rapidly developing” growth. Concretely, what does India offer Australian space companies that they can’t get from partnering with the US, Europe or Japan?
Nathan Davis: Australia and India are deeply connected partners, and space is a growing dimension to that bilateral partnership. India provides manufacturing scale and a palpable sense of optimism that excites members of our delegation and many members of our broader space ecosystem. What we see from India is a partner that offers a new ecosystem to further deepen our already strong economic ties more broadly. India offers a manufacturing scale that is not found in many places globally, and is a reliable near neighbour in the Indo-Pacific. Crucially, our delegation was supported by the Australian Government’s ‘Accessing New Markets Initiative,’ which supports diversification of Australia’s export supply chain.
Q: What are the regulatory, IP or investment-related hurdles Australian companies are flagging when they explore entry into India’s space sector, and is Austrade doing anything to address them?
Nathan Davis: The primary considerations our companies discuss with Austrade, and the broader Australian ecosystem, is understanding the market better, and how they can scale and commercialise across the ecosystem. Austrade provides a range of supporting services to Australian businesses, from providing deep market assessments to understand product fit, through to supporting companies get their feet on the ground and explore the market– as we have done this week at Bengaluru Space Expo. We of course naturally acknowledge global considerations surrounding regulatory requirements, IP protections and what to consider with engaging in a foreign market. International markets are complex, and Austrade is there to support business to work through those complexities.
Q: On reciprocity, beyond ground-station access (as in the LC60-NSIL deal) and spaceport recovery partnerships (Space Angel’s deals), where do you see Indian companies gaining the most from these tie-ups — is this a two-way commercial relationship or largely Australia seeking India’s market and infrastructure?
Nathan Davis: India’s ecosystem is large and has a scale that is impressive and complementary to Australia’s own ecosystem. What we can achieve together deepens relationships and commercial scale globally, which expands our ecosystems for mutual benefit. As pointed out, several agreements involve two-way benefit. As part of our delegation, we had members who had already set up and invested in India, collaborated deeply with Indian companies to develop shared technologies to address shared challenges, and pursuing joint research objectives. What Australia and India can achieve in terms of joint technology collaboration, integration and knowledge exchange goes both ways. As part of our mission we continued dialogue with Indian companies looking to develop in the Australian market and worked with Australian companies to explore the Indian ecosystem on the ground.
Q: Beyond BSX 2026, what’s the next milestone or checkpoint for Austrade to measure whether this delegation actually converted into deals? Is there a target number of agreements or investment figures you’re tracking toward?
Nathan Davis: We track all MoUs signed with Australian Government support as part of the Australian Government’s dialogue between the Australian Space Agency (ASA), ISRO, and IN-SPACe. Our next formal check-in is shaping to be at IAC 2026 in Paris later this year. We don’t set targets on the number of agreements or investments, but more developing a higher plane of ambition of collaboration and partnership between India and Australia across space and the broader bilateral trade and investment relationship.
