New Delhi: Recent US intelligence suggesting Russia may be proposing to locate a nuclear weapon in space to target satellites, resulted in panic not just in the US, but the rest of the world, not geared to counter the new threat. The reality of China with colossal budgets, being far ahead in the race, is bringing attention to India’s steps towards its defence space efforts led by the Defence Space Agency (DSA) formed in 2019 to create a tri-service integrated Aerospace Command led by the Indian Air Force.
Serious discussions on the strategy and blueprint of the much-needed command are underway. Being a complex technological challenge, the Aerospace Command will become fully operational in a decade or more. Not having a command does not imply India has no defence space assets or no activity in progress.
There is no cause for concern, (Retd) Air Vice Marshal D.V. Khot, former Director General DSA, told The Wire. “This is not a sudden activity kicking off. It is more of a rolling evolution of capability.”
“The defence space command will be a nodal agency in a wholesome fashion that will look after the requirements of space for the military. It will be an upgradation of DSA. Our mandate is to upscale capabilities,” he added.
“Space being space requires a gestation period and budgets,” he explained. The road is complex as next-gen technology upgrade needs of the military for Command, Control, Positioning Navigation and Timing System, Communications, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance will change along the way. “It is better to have some information than no information at all,” a military space-related official said.
The Aerospace Command is likely to pick up learnings from the US Space Command that has been morphed according to changing requirements of world events. It recently released its updated strategic vision affirming the need to “ensure a safe, secure, and sustainable domain amid increasing threats”. “By 2027, USSPACECOM (will) enable Joint Force lethality …. protecting it from space-enabled attack.”
As space gets crowded, the risk of collision among satellites and debris increases. India, like many other nations, may also have to deal with hostile counterspace attacks.
“We want more (money)” is the constant refrain of those involved. Recently, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan announced at the DefSat conference held in New Delhi: “Indian armed forces have earmarked funds of Rs 25,000 crore to meet defence space requirements, ranging from building a constellation of surveillance satellites to secure communications networks.”
Chauhan welcomed the participation of the private sector to help fasten the process of launching and constructing defence satellites. While this is a generous start, it is a tedious journey as the military moves towards a fully operationalised Aerospace Command. The Space Policy 2023, for instance, will need to be enacted as an act for the private sector to participate and invest in space-based applications and services in defence.
A beginning has been made. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and US-based Satellogic will collaborate on the development of a new satellite design and work together to integrate multiple payloads on a single satellite that will generate a diverse range of data over India – the first of which is planned to be launched as TSAT-1A, according to a joint statement. “The focus will be on manufacturing satellites and developing imagery in India for national defence and commercial applications,” it added.
The emergent need is apparent. China has at least 140 military satellites and a space program that is miles ahead, having conducted an Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) test 12 years before India did in March 2019. According to NBC News, the most worrisome development has been China’s advances in hypersonic manoeuvre missiles. Launched from a rocket, hypersonic missiles pose a risk to satellites, fly at least 20 times the speed of sound, can circle the Earth and strike a target while evading most ground-based air defences.
India has around 15 military-application satellites but only two dedicated ones. The Indian Navy GSAT-7R, an Indian Navy communications satellite, delayed by two years already, is expected to be launched later in the year to replace the aged GSAT-7, called Rukmini that gives the Navy real time communication link between its land stations, surface ships, submarines, and aircraft. GSAT-7A (Angry Bird) is used by the Air Force. GSAT 7B, first in the five-tonne category, for advanced communication needs of the army cleared last year for acquisition to be developed by ISRO, has yet to take off.
Price Waterhouse Coopers in a recent report reiterated: “India has made good progress in the space domain…… with good capabilities in civilian satellite applications. However, due to the changing nature of space use and a concerted move towards non-kinetic warfare, there is a need to increase focus on the military applications of space technologies.”
India has been slow to utilise space for military benefit as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) through the decades insisted it was only a civil space organisation. This was due to US sanctions. It was only in 2016 that India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a multilateral export control body with an informal political understanding to limit proliferation of missiles and missile technology. But the mindset of ISRO through time, remains till date.
Given the slow progress of military satellites being launched and the need for large volumes of nano satellites in low earth orbit that have a shorter shelf life and require faster replacement, the military has said it would like the private sector to enter the field. For this it has suggested a launch – on-demand – that would be overseen by the Aerospace Command, The Wire has learnt.
Only time will tell whether, and when, this fructifies.
Neelam Mathews is a defence reporter based in Delhi
This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.