# India’s per-kg space launch cost highest: study 2026-08-14T11:04:48+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India spends more per kilogram of payload to orbit than any other major spacefaring nation, a new study in Economics Letters has found. The Hindu reports that the analysis estimated India's cost at $13,302 per kg in 2025, against a global average of $3,868. The U.S. spends $3,225, China $5,809, and Europe $9,897. The authors attribute the high cost to ISRO's small rockets and low launch frequency, which prevent costs from falling through a learning curve. Despite opening the space sector to private firms in 2020 and seeing 400 startups, India managed fewer than half of the 30 launches projected for 2024-25. This gap has driven Indian operators like NewSpace India and startups Pixxel to use SpaceX's Falcon 9, raising concerns about geopolitical dependence. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: geopolitics, ISRO, private space industry, PSLV, space launch cost, SpaceX Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/indias-per-kg-space-launch-cost-highest-study/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/indias-per-kg-space-launch-cost-highest-study/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.