Yunus Dar

India has lately been giving increased importance to space assets. With the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) test on 27 March 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stunned the global powers with his announcement that India had become the fourth country to conduct an ASAT missile test. Space has been the exclusive domain of great powers, such as the US and Russia, since decades, which is now rapidly changing.

Interceptor used as ASAT weapon by DRDO

Back in 2008, government of India announced its plans to create an Integrated Space Cell, which is jointly operated by the three-armed forces – army, navy and air force — besides the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) itself, which makes it more of an information network system. The agency was to coordinate and strategise India’s space defence systems, working in collaboration with the defence networks, and develop potential space strategies. While primarily conceptualised for development of civilian programmes, ISRO has, in collaboration with the DRDO, developed several dual uses as well as purely military satellites for the armed forces. There are more than 320 military satellites orbiting the earth currently, with the US owning almost half of them, followed by China and Russia. India lags behind in terms of military-only satellites, however, the pace is now quickening with ISRO developing its own heavy launch systems.

India’s push for self-reliance in navigation led to the creation of Indian Regional Navigation Spacecraft System (IRNSS), which envisages establishment of regional navigation system using a combination of Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) spacecraft. The series of IRNSS satellites provided game-changing solutions for civilians as well as strategic applications. India launched its first exclusive satellite for the military called, GSAT-7, in August 2013 from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, on European space consortium Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket. The multi-band home-built communication spacecraft was dedicated to the Indian Navy for use in maritime secu