New Delhi, June 25 -- Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to open up the space sector to private players as a "turning point" that sparked a "miraculous" transformation. He projected that the sector could grow to 40-45 billion US dollars in a decade, and added that experiments to be conducted by astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla during the Axiom-4 mission will help prepare for future space missions like Chandrayaan-4 and the Bharat Space Station planned for 2035.

Singh said that one of the biggest milestones in India's space programme came when the private sector was allowed to participate.

"I think one of the greatest turning points in India's space journey has been PM Modi'...