Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology (TIET) hosted its National Space Day 2026 celebrations in Patiala on August 21, bringing together representatives from IN-SPACe, industry and academia to discuss India’s expanding commercial space sector.

The session featured a keynote by Dr Vinod Kumar, Director, Promotion Directorate, IN-SPACe, Department of Space, on the role of policy, regulation, capacity building and demand generation in expanding India’s commercial space ecosystem. Brijesh Kumar Soni, Deputy Director, Promotion Directorate, IN-SPACe, also attended the event.

The keynote was followed by discussions on the transition from government-led missions to private space businesses and on space engineering. Experts from Dassault Systèmes, CYRAN AI Solutions, Dream Aerospace, Rosni Agri Information, Spatial Logix and Trishul Space discussed indigenous technology development, applications of space science and the skills required for India’s growing space industry.

The discussions also highlighted Skyroot’s orbital rocket launch as an example of the expanding role of private companies in India’s space sector.

“India’s space opportunity is expanding from missions to an ecosystem of technologies, enterprises and applications. The priority now is to build talent that can turn this opportunity into solutions, and institutions have an important role in making that connection,” said Dr Padmakumar Nair, Vice Chancellor, TIET.

The event also highlighted TIET’s work in space technology, including ThaparSat, its student satellite, the SPIN Lab in association with IIT-Tirupati, and the Thapar Satellite Control and Monitoring Station. The institute’s Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Thapar School of Advanced AI and Data Science were also highlighted for their relevance to the multidisciplinary skills required by the space sector.

The National Space Day programme gave students an opportunity to understand the convergence of policy, engineering, technology and private enterprise in India’s space sector, while highlighting career opportunities in the field.

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