The Department of Space (DOS) is an Indian government department responsible for the administration of the nation's space program, established as an institution under the direct purview of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The DOS was formally established in June 1972 by the Government of India, following the constitution of the Space Commission. Its creation was intended to establish a comprehensive policy and programs infrastructure for space and telecommunications, solving the problem of coordinating the nascent Indian space program, which had begun with the establishment of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962. The primary objective of the DOS is to promote the development and application of space science and technology for the socio-economic benefit of the country.
The DOS implements its programs primarily through the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which was established in August 1969 and brought under the administrative control of the DOS in September 1972. The Secretary of the DOS also serves as the Chairman of ISRO and the Space Commission. The DOS oversees key programs such as the Launch Vehicle program, the INSAT Programme for communication and meteorology, and the Remote Sensing Programme for resource monitoring.
The DOS connects to several related institutions, including the commercial public-sector undertaking NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), which markets space products and services and commercializes ISRO technologies. A significant recent change occurred with the announcement of space reforms in June 2020 and the subsequent release of the Indian Space Policy 2023 in April 2023. This policy formally restructured the sector by creating the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), an autonomous single-window nodal agency under DOS, constituted in October 2021. IN-SPACe is responsible for authorizing and promoting space activities by Non-Government Entities (NGEs), marking a major shift towards broader private participation in the space sector. The Indian Space Policy 2023 directs ISRO to transition away from routine operational activities to focus on research and development of advanced technologies, while the DOS's overall administrative and policy-making role remains the same.