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Defence Space Agency
Insignia of the Defence Space Agency
Active
  • Established: 28 September 2018; 6 years ago (2018-09-28)[1][2]
  • Operational: November 2019 (2019-11)[3]
Country India
TypeIntegrated tri-services agency
RoleSpace Warfare
Satellite Intelligence
Part ofIntegrated Defence Staff[4]
HeadquartersBengaluru[5]
Commanders
Current
commander		Air vice marshal-level officer

The Defence Space Agency (DSA) is an integrated tri-services agency of the Indian Armed Forces headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The agency is tasked with operating the space-warfare and Satellite Intelligence[6] assets of India. The DSA draws personnel from all three branches of the Armed Forces.

The agency is expected to be converted into a full sized tri-service military command in the future.[3]

History

[edit]

Origins

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The Naresh Chandra Task Force was set up in July 2011 by National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to review the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee, assess the implementation progress and further suggest new reforms related to national security.[7][8] The task force was led by Naresh Chandra, retired Indian Administrative Service officer, and comprised 13 other members, including Gopalaswami Parthasarathy, Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy (Retd), Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd), Lt Gen V. R. Raghavan (Retd), Anil Kakodkar, K C Verma and V K Duggal. The committee conducted the first holistic review of national security since the Kargil Review Committee and submitted its classified report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 23 May 2012.[9] Among its recommendations, the Task Force recommended the creation of a cyber command, an aerospace command and a special operations command. All three units were proposed to be tri-service commands.[10][11] The DSA is a downsized implementation of this proposal.[3]

The creation of the Defence Space Agency (DSA), the Defence Cyber Agency (DCA), and the Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Combined Commanders' Conference at Jodhpur Air Force Station on 28 September 2018.[1][2] The Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre in Delhi and the Defence Satellite Control Centre in Bhopal were subsumed by the DSA.[3]

Anti-satellite programme of India

[edit]
Further information: Mission Shakti
Indian ASAT missile, taking off during test in March 2019

Months before the operationalisation of the Defence Space Agency, India conducted an Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) test in March 2019. The test was aimed at demonstrating India's anti-satellite capability.[12]

The Indian ASAT programme can be traced back to its BMD program, which began in 1999 in response to threats posed by the Ballistic missiles of Pakistan and China.[13] In 2006 and 2007, India tested its first exo atmospheric interceptor and has developed many interceptors since then.[14][15] On 18 March 2008, DRDO Chief V. K. Saraswat had hinted that India possessed technology required for an ASAT missile, reiterating it in February 2010.[16] India is known to have been developing an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle that can be integrated with the missile to engage satellites.[17] In April 2012, Saraswat again said that India possessed the critical technologies for an ASAT weapon from radars and interceptors developed for Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme.[18] India had begun work on its ASAT soon after the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test.[16]

As of April 2019, India was working on directed energy ASAT weapons, co-orbital ASAT weapons, lasers and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) based ASAT weapons. The ability to protect space assets from hostile electronic and physical attacks was also being developed by India.[19]

Exercise IndSpaceEx

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India conducted its first simulated space warfare exercise on 25th and 26 July 2019, called IndSpaceEx. The exercise was conducted under the supervision of Integrated Defence Staff. The exercise was aimed at obtaining an assessment of threats and the creation of a joint space warfare doctrine.[20][21]

Space Based Surveillance

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As of 2024, India operates 9 military satellites.[22]

The Space Based Surveillance Phase-I project was approved by the "Vajpeyee government" on 2001 as a part of which 4 satellites — Cartosat-2A, Cartosat-2B, EROS B and RISAT-2 — were launched.[23]

The Space Based Surveillance Phase-I project was approved by the government on 20013 as a part of which 6 satellites — Cartosat-2C, Cartosat-2D, Cartosat-3A, Cartosat-3B, Microsat-TD, RISAT-2A — were launched.[23]

On 12 October 2024, India's Cabinet Committee on Security approved a proposal for the development, construction and launch of at least 52 spy satellites as a part of Space Based Surveillance Phase-III project intended to enhance the country's surveillance capabilities from space in both land and sea domains. The project, worth ₹26,968 crore (US$3.2 billion), will be supervised by National Security Council Secretariat along with the Defence Space Agency under the Integrated Defence Staff. Of these satellites 21 will be built by ISRO and the others by 31 private sector companies. They will enhance the SATCOM capabilities of UAVs like the MQ-9B Predator drones that are on order. The SBS system will provide round-the-clock monitoring, unaffected by weather, time of day, or atmospheric conditions and may have secondary civilian applications as well. All the satellites is to be launched within 5 years at Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The satellites will be equipped with Artificial Intelligence for inter-satellite communications.[24][25][26][23]

While the Space-based Surveillance projects deal with earth observation satellites, the Indian Armed Forces also uses communications satellites of the GSAT-7 series of which GSAT-7 and GSAT-7A are operational while GSAT-7B, GSAT-7C and GSAT-7R are on order for launch.

List of Indian military satellites

[edit]

As of 2023, India has only 2 dedicated military satellites (GSAT-7 and GSAT-7A) with the rest being dual purpose military satellites.[27][28]

Operational

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  1. CARTOSAT-2B carries a panchromatic (PAN) camera capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum which has a resolution of 80 centimetres.[29] The highly agile CARTOSAT-2B can be steered up to 45 deg along as well as across the direction of its movement to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently and offers multiple spot scene imagery.[30][31]
  2. GSAT-7 was launched in 2013 for the exclusive use of the Indian Navy to monitor the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) with the satellite's 2,000 nautical mile ‘footprint’ and real-time input capabilities to Indian warships, submarines and maritime aircraft.[32] To boost its network-centric operations, the IAF is also likely to get another satellite GSAT-7C within a few years.[32]
  3. HySIS, a dual use satellite, was also launched in November 2013, which is used by the navy.[33] HySIS carries two payloads, the first in the Visible Near Infrared (VNIR) spectral range of 0.4 to 0.95 micrometres with 60 contiguous spectral bands and the second in the Shortwave Infrared Range (SWIR) spectral range of 0.85 to 2.4 micrometres with a 10 nanometre bandwidth and 256 contiguous spectral bands. The satellite will have a spatial resolution of 30 meters and a swath of 30 km from its 630 km sun-synchronous orbit.[34][35][36][37][38]
  4. Cartosat-2C: Launched in June 2016, the satellite was used in reconnaissance purposes before and during 2016 Indian Line of Control strike.[39]
  5. Cartosat-2E: Launched on 23 June 2017, the Cartosat-2E satellite was designed to collect high-resolution (0.6 m×0.6 m), large scale imagery. The satellite provides an edge in warfare with clearer images. The satellite is also used for urban planning, infrastructure development and traffic management.[40]
  6. GSAT-7A: Launched in December 2018 for the exclusive military use for the Indian Air Force.[41][42] GSAT-7A allows IAF to interlink different ground radar stations, ground airbase, aircraft to aircraft Real-time Control System, AEW&C aircraft such as Beriev A-50-based Phalcon and DRDO Netra. The satellite enhances network-centric warfare capabilities of the Indian Air Force and its global operations.[43][44] The satellite is also used by Indian Army's Aviation Corps for real-time control and communication of its aviation operations.[45][46]
  7. EMISAT: Launched on 1 April 2019, is a reconnaissance satellite[47] under DRDO's project Kautilya[48] which will provide space-based electronic intelligence or ELINT, especially to improve the situational awareness of the Indian Armed Forces by providing information and location of enemy radars.[49]
  8. RISAT-2B: Launched on 22 May 2019 has replaced the retired RISAT-2. The primary requirement of the satellite is military surveillance along with secondary civilian purposes like disaster management, agriculture and forestry.[50][51]
  9. RISAT-2BR1: Launched on 11 December 2019 as a part of RISAT series. It can distinguish between objects which are 35 cm apart.[52]
  10. EOS-01 (previously RISAT-2BR2)

Planned

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  1. GSAT-7R, planned to replace GSAT-7 for the Indian Navy.[53]
  2. GSAT-7B, planned to be first dedicated military satellite for the Indian Army. The approval was granted by Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on 21 March 2023. The multiband military satellite, featuring integrated communication for network-centric operations, will be launched in 2-3 years.[54] Contract for a 5-tonne satellite signed with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), worth ₹2,963 crore (US$360 million) on 31 March 2023.[27]
  3. GSAT-7C, planned to replace GSAT-7A for the Indian Air Force.[55]
  4. RISAT-2A: Initially planned for launch before RISAT-2B around December 2018 was postponed to 2020. However, there have been no further updates as of 2024. The satellite is planned to be equipped with synthetic-aperture radar and will operate at 5.35 GHz in C band.[56][57][58]
  5. Cartosat-3A (EOS-8): Planned to be launched on PSLV-XL. Will have a panchromatic resolution of 0.25 metres and a high quality resolution of 1 metre. To be launched in 2024.[59][23]
  6. Cartosat-3B: Planned to be launched on PSLV-XL. Will have a panchromatic resolution of 0.25 metres and a high quality resolution of 1 metre. To be launched in 2025.[59][23][60]

Decommissioned

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  1. Technology Experiment Satellite or (TES) is an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).[61] The Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) has a panchromatic camera capable of producing images of 1 meter resolution for remote sensing.[62] The launch of TES made India the second country in the world after the United States that can commercially offer images with one meter resolution.[62] It is used for remote sensing of civilian areas, mapping industry and geographical information services.
  2. RISAT-2, or Radar Imaging Satellite 2 has a primary sensor, the synthetic aperture radar from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).[63] RISAT-2 is India's first satellite with a synthetic aperture radar. It has a day-night, all-weather monitoring capability and has a resolution of one metre.[64] Potential applications include tracking hostile ships at sea.[65] Though the Indian Space Research Organisation sought to underplay the satellite's defence capabilities in its website and in its announcements, a majority of the media preferred to classify it as a spy satellite.[66] ISRO claims that the satellite will enhance ISRO's capability for earth observation, especially during floods, cyclones, landslides and in disaster management in a more effective way.[67]
  3. CARTOSAT-2 carries a state-of-the-art panchromatic (PAN) camera that take black and white pictures of the Earth in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The swath covered by these high resolution PAN cameras is 9.6 km and their spatial resolution is 80 centimetres.[68] The satellite can be steered up to 45 degrees along as well as across the track. CARTOSAT-2 is an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery. The data from the satellite will be used for detailed mapping and other cartographic applications at cadastral level, urban and rural infrastructure development and management, as well as applications in Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS).[69] Cartosat was decommissioned and the perigee lowered by controlled burns between March and Sep 2020 as debris mitigation activities. This will result in the orbit naturally decaying and re-entry within 10 years.
  4. GSAT-6A is a dedicated satellite for army as a replacement for GSAT-6 which lost communication after its launch.[70]
  5. Microsat-R, a dedicated military satellite for the Indian Armed Forces, was launched on 24 January 2019. The 760 kg imaging satellite was launched using PSLV C-44 rocket.[71]

Organisation

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The headquarter of the DSA is in Bangalore.[5] It functions under the Integrated Defence Staff.[4] Personnel from all the three branches of the Indian Armed Forces will be stationed in the agency.[4] The agency is expected to be fully operational by November 2019.[3]

Role

[edit]

The DSA will operate systems to protect Indian interests in outer space and will deal with potential space wars. The agency will have the responsibility of developing a space warfare strategy.[72] It works on Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Communication Intelligence (COMINT) and in areas like space-based tracking systems.[73][74]

Defence Space Research Agency

[edit]

The Defence Space Research Agency (DSRA) is the scientific organisation responsible for developing space-warfare systems and technologies for the Defence Space Agency. The DSRA was approved by the Government of India in June 2019.[75] The DSRA is composed of scientists who undertake research and development in close coordination with the Integrated Defence Staff.[76] Various types of Anti-satellite weapon systems are currently under development.[19]

See also

[edit]
Integrated entities
Assets
Other nations
General concepts

References

[edit]
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