Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch Indian Space Association today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually launch the Indian Space Association (ISpA) at 11 am on Monday. He will also interact with representatives of the space industry on the occasion.Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister on Sunday wrote:A Prime Minister's Office release said that the ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies, which aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian space industry.It will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain, including the government and its agencies.Echoing the Prime Minister's vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, ISpA will help in making India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena, read the release.ISpA is represented by leading homegrown and global corporations with advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies.Its founding members include Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Bharti Airtel, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited. Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics and Maxar India.ISpA has appointed Jayant Patil, senior executive vice president-defence, L&T-NxT as its first chairman and Rahul Vatts, chief regulatory officer, Bharti Airtel as vice chairman. Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd) has been named as the body's director-general.“We are truly honoured to have the Honourable Prime Minister grace the launch ceremony and outline his vision for the growth of India’s space industry and making our nation a global leader in the space arena,” ISpA Director General A K Bhatt said in a statement.With input from agencies