CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is working towards positioning itself as a leader in India's space technology sector and, in the coming years, will build a dedicated ecosystem across southern districts, said Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director and CEO, Startup TN, during a conversation with a journalist at the Super Chennai Conclave.
He said space-tech has emerged as a central pillar of the State's deep-tech strategy, which currently has 23 funded space-tech startups, including 13 based in Chennai, supported by institutional initiatives such as those at IIT Madras.
The upcoming Space Park at Kulasekarapattinam is expected to boost the ecosystem. In addition, the government plans to develop supporting space-technology bases across Madurai, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar to strengthen.
The State is also in the process of establishing a specialised space-tech incubator. This, he said, would be among the first State-led initiatives of its kind outside the national space regulatory ecosystem centred around IN-SPACe in Ahmedabad.
He said public attention in space tech has largely focused on upstream areas, such as rockets and launch systems, particularly after progress by startups such as Agnikul Cosmos.
However, the larger commercial opportunity lies in downstream applications, where satellite data and space-based technologies are translated into practical uses, he added.
"The State aims to develop capabilities in both segments in a balanced manner, with the long-term goal of emerging as a national leader in space-tech."
Reacting to the concerns, he said Tamil Nadu would soon have around 200 incubation centres, but improving their effectiveness is now a priority.
Currently, only about 20% of incubators are performing to expected levels, and StartupTN plans to strengthen quality and outcomes over the next three to four years under what it calls phase 2.0. The aim is to ensure that every startup is mapped to at least one incubator for support.
He also addressed concerns about startup sustainability, noting that 92% of startups founded in Tamil Nadu since 2016 are still active, though scaling remains a key challenge that the state hopes to address.