New Delhi, Aug 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed creating an aura around the private sector in space research so that people worldwide feel that if they want to make a career, they should go to India.In an interaction with CEOs and founders of 20 space startups on Friday, Modi also highlighted India's cost-competitiveness in launching space ventures. He emphasised that the country's vast talent pool and high risk-taking capacity would allow India to rapidly establish a dominant position in the global space sector, according to the transcript of the interaction, which was released on Sunday. Modi appreciated the CEOs of space startups who showed courage by entering a new sector, and said the biggest factor was that they trusted the government's word. "My view has always been that whatever decision we make, we must remain consistent and avoid making frequent changes. This ensures that anyone willing to take a risk feels confident that while a mistake on their end might cause issues, no one will abandon them. Creating that trust was our effort," he said. Modi also said that India is highly competitive in terms of cost and there is no question about talent. "We are very competitive on cost; there is no question at all about talent, and our people naturally have a higher risk-taking capacity anyway. Because of these, we can establish our place very rapidly," he said. The CEOs said India's first space-tech unicorn, Skyroot Aerospace, successfully launched India's first private rocket into orbit, and that was just the beginning. By mid-2027, they are aiming for one launch per month, the CEOs said. When Modi asked whether the investors have the confidence, one of the CEOs said that investor confidence has increased significantly after Skyroot's first launch. "That's great," Modi said and asked whether that route is proving useful to the space startups. To this, one of the CEOs said, "It is very useful." The CEOs said their vision for the next 18 months is to establish a global ground station network. One of the CEOs told Modi that after India opened the space industry for private players, a very positive trend was observed and many Indian citizens living in the US and Europe now want to return and work in the country. In response, Modi said, "I believe we should create an aura where people worldwide feel that if they want to make a career, they should go to India." He said such people from across the globe should feel that they should connect with a startup in India, connect with a space agency in India. "I firmly believe that because of you, we can attract the entire talent pool like a magnet, and that can become a massive strength for us," Modi said. Another CEO said that after a single launch, the company had received eight launch contracts in the last month, most of them international. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's office on Friday, Modi assured full government support to young space entrepreneurs and urged them to explore how space technology can be used in agriculture, livestock management, dairy, environment and other areas that affect people's everyday lives. The startups part of the interaction included Skyroot Aerospace, Agnikul Cosmos, Pixxel, Dhruva Space, GalaxEye, PierSight, Bellatrix Aerospace, Digantara, SatSure, Suhora Technologies, Manastu Space, Astrobase, TakeMe2Space, VyomIC, Cosmoserve Space, OrbitAID Aerospace, SkyServe (Hyspace), Serendipity Space, Vassar Labs and mistEO. National Space Day is celebrated to commemorate the Chandrayaan-3 mission that accomplished a safe and soft landing of the Vikram Lander on the lunar surface on August 23, 2023. PTI