iDEX-DIO signed its 250th contract, the first under Mission DefSpace, and 100th SPRINT (Navy) contract in New Delhi

On May 15, 2023, in New Delhi, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the Ministry of Defence's flagship initiative, signed its 250th contract, the first under Mission DefSpace, and its 100th SPRINT (Navy) contract.

In addition to prominent civil and military officials, the contracts were signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Mr. Giridhar Aramane.

The first iDEX contract of Mission DefSpace was exchanged between the Additional Secretary (Defence Production) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) Mr. T. Natarajan and CEO, InspeCity Mr. Arindrajit Chowdhary, one of the winners of the challenge ‘Micropropulsion system for cubesats.’ This challenge is being led by the Defence Space Agency. The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi launched Mission DefSpace with 75 Defence Space Challenges to be addressed by the private sector during DefExpo at Gandhinagar in October, 2022.

AS (DP) & CEO-DIO and CEO, Siliconia Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Sushil Eknath Ghule exchanged the 100th SPRINT (Navy) contract. The Challenge, which called for the creation of a lightweight ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit)-based communication system using a software-defined antenna for Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit, and Geostationary Satellite Communication, was won by Siliconia Technologies Pvt Ltd. Siliconia's technology can deliver numerous separate receiver/transmitter sources, which are crucial for phased-array radars, which are frequently utilised for satellite tracking.

The iDEX achieved the milestone of signing its 1st and 50th iDEX SPRINT contracts under DISC-7 in October 2022 and January 2023 respectively and within a few months the 100th SPRINT (Navy) contract was exchanged.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.