By Staff Correspondent
As the world soars into the era of space as an essential battleground, the intensifying rivalry between the United States. and China poses significant challenges. Concurrently, China’s accelerated pace in advancing its space capabilities is stirring concerns among global leaders. A senior U.S. Space Force official recently cautioned against China’s potential to outstrip America’s space technology, emphasising the increasing sophistication of Chinese military satellites and reusable tech. This development is seen as a potential threat to the longstanding American dominance in this sector.
Simultaneously, these events offer an opportunity to reassess India’s role in the space technology realm, especially regarding its military applications.
Unprecedented technological advancements have positioned space as a linchpin in contemporary warfare. With its convergence with land, sea, air, and cyberspace, space has become an arena for kinetic energy direct ascent anti-satellite weapon testing. China is a prominent player in this context, with its rapidly growing civil space programme offering potential military advantages.
For India, engaging robustly in the space domain is not merely an option but a necessity. Nonetheless, visible disparities remain.
One of China’s key strategies is its military-civil fusion (MCF). China has not only elevated space capabilities to a national priority but also aims to lead the global space race. This ambition was cemented in 2016 by President Xi Jinping’s call to become the “foremost global space power by 2045”.
Although China is fostering private space companies, the military principally conducts the nation’s space activities through state-owned enterprises focused on defence. The China National Space Administration (CNSA), under the State Administration for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defence, exemplifies this military-civil fusion.
China’s noteworthy achievements in space infrastructure, including the launch of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the completion of a high-resolution earth observation system, the establishment of a reliable satellite communications network, and the conclusion of its three-step lunar exploration program, are a testament to this.
Notably, BeiDou has enabled China to propose a “Space Silk Road” as part of its Belt and Road Initiative diplomacy, offering global navigational autonomy essential in potential global conflicts.
China’s development of a range of technologies, including jammers and lasers, can potentially disrupt India’s satellites. These advancements enhance China’s offensive capabilities in space, including hacking into satellites, manipulating outcomes, and deploying ‘parasitic microsatellites’. Further, China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system, based on 35 orbiting satellites, offers wider global coverage than India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), which operates eight satellites with regional coverage of up to 1,500 km from its borders.
China has also increased its offensive counter-space capabilities, employing a range of jamming techniques, offensive cyberspace capabilities, and directed energy weapons to engage adversary satellites.
Against this backdrop, India’s space program warrants careful examination. For instance, the payload capacity of China’s Long March 5 rocket is five times greater than India’s GSLV-Mk3. Furthermore, China launched a total of 55 satellites in 2021 alone.
India, while proud of its ability to launch vehicles, acknowledges the need for increased focus, technological advancements, and budgetary allocation in space.
Ankit Bhateja, Founder & Director of Xovian Aerospace, highlights the need for a functional system for position, navigation, timing, and next-generation operational control systems. He also underscores the importance of an alternative to the position, navigation, and timing (PNT) environment, especially in PNT-denial scenarios.
India should also aim to expand the coverage area of its independent navigation satellite system — IRNSS. Experts believe that taking IRNSS global is necessary to fortify India’s space assets.
