India's Space Regulator Introduces Re-Entry Rules as Agnikul Plans Booster Recovery
India's space regulator, IN-SPACe, has introduced a comprehensive framework for the re-entry of space objects, marking the country's first set of rules for planned atmospheric re-entry. This development comes shortly after Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 mission, which made India the third country to have a private company place payloads into orbit. The new regulations are timely, as Agnikul Cosmos, a Chennai-based startup, is preparing for Mission-02. This mission aims to recover an orbital-class rocket booster through controlled ocean descent and repurpose the upper stage as a functional in-orbit platform. The rules require prior authorization for any re-entry, a casualty risk assessment, and impose strict liability for any damage caused during re-entry operations. 
