Opinion India has an admirable record as a global space power. But it needs to do more to close gap with China
The evolution of space as a theatre for warfare and defence emphasises the need for more space-based assets for armed forces. CDS Anil Chauhan is correct in highlighting that
India has a very admirable record as a global space power in all domains of space technology. (File photo) 
Addressing the third edition of the Indian DefSpace Symposium on April 7, the Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan stressed that “primary elements of warfare will depend on space”. Drawing attention to the capabilities of India’s adversaries, he emphasised the imperatives of “defining military space, developing a space culture, and identifying vulnerabilities to defend space”.
Space, however, has not emerged only recently as the new strategic high ground. It started to become an increasingly important component of military power as the Nazis sent the first unmanned rocket into space beyond the Kármán Line (~100 km altitude) towards the end of World War II. This was followed by the façade of “space exploration” from the early 1950s, even though all exploration has always been for economic or military advantage.
Hence, as the Cold War progressed, the USA and formerly USSR commenced manned and unmanned space flights, launched satellites, and began deploying inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Two sets of key events set the ball rolling: One, the 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite, Sputnik-1, and the US response. Two, the race for the first human in space (Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, April 1961), leading to Kennedy’s May 1961 vision-speech of landing a man on the Moon (Apollo 11, July 1969). As efforts to dominate space gathered traction, so did endeavours to militarise and weaponise it.
In 1963, the UN General Assembly adopted the “Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space”, and in October 1967, the USSR, the UK and the US signed the Outer Space Treaty. This prohibits placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit/outer space or on the Moon. However, this didn’t deter the signatories, and in the 1980s, the USSR developed a miniature ASAT (anti-satellite) missile for its MiG-31 fighter aircraft; the US responded in 1985 by destroying its own satellite with the ASM-135 ASAT missile. This was the last ASAT test till China tested its direct ascent ASAT with a kinetic kill vehicle in 2007.
Ballistic missile defence systems have a destabilising effect on strategic stability. If deployed in adequate numbers, they tend to tempt a nuclear-armed nation into nuclear adventurism. So, the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty between the US, the UK, and the USSR made BMD testing illegal. With US and Soviet arsenals growing exponentially in size and power, the two signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 1972; this limited the number of BMD sites each could maintain to just two. Yet, the US kept looking for ways to destroy incoming ballistic missiles in space, and in 1983, announced its ‘BMD in space’ called the Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Star Wars’). It did not materialise but laid crucial technological foundations for the future of space defence.
Space-based assets had also started to play a critical role in conventional warfare. The US-led wars in Kuwait-Iraq and Kosovo, relying heavily on advanced technologies like satellite imaging, GPS, precision-guided munition, etc, highlighted the escalating and critical role of space in intelligence gathering, battle damage assessments and overall warfighting. In sum: space superiority became and continues to be a key factor in military operations, with military satellites being key enablers of full-spectrum intelligence, electronic and cyber warfare, strategic strikes (first/disarming or second-strike) and counter-space capabilities for both conventional and nuclear warfighting.
This dynamic didn’t escape the notice of countries like China, which realised that rather than focus solely on a financially debilitating force augmentation, and then trying to fight the US; tanks, aircraft, warships, etc, it would be far easier and advantageous to target the most critical component of the American warfighting system — the satellites. China continued to build a military capable of what is known as informationised and intelligent warfare heavily reliant on space-based systems.
India has a very admirable record as a global space power in all domains of space technology (exploration, rocket/missiles, high-resolution satellite imaging, data transmission, communications, building a global positioning system, etc). Its Test Experimental Satellite (launched 2001) for imaging, military communication satellites like GSAT-6, GSAT-7 and GSAT-7A, the ASAT tests, missions to the Moon and Mars, the NavIC, the first Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), etc, are evidence of its incredible technological prowess.
However, India has lagged behind countries like China in aggressively developing and deploying space-based assets for its armed forces. But that is now set to change. General Chauhan had, in his address, announced plans for launching around 52 military satellites for ISR to boost the Indian military’s capabilities while adding that India must sharpen its focus on “boosting military capabilities and protecting these assets from threats”. India’s geopolitical environment is not benign, and preparing to face the multi-domain threats requires clear thinking and strategic foresight. Hence, in an uncertain world, military strength is expected to remain the final guarantor of national security. India must, therefore, invest in space assets before it is too late.
The writer is a retired Brigadier from the Indian Army
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