India’s Space Commission desperately needs to be restructured to have representatives from military and defence stakeholders
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Why does India pursue a ‘space program’ at all? Is it only to satisfy the scientific curiosity of its intelligentsia? Is it only to fulfil the harmless aspirations of its entrepreneurs to bring an economic windfall to the nation? If these are the only motives for the Indian government to pursue the space program, the high table known as India’s Space Commission—the tallest decision-making body on all matters space—with its current organogram, is perfectly fine. However, if you ask two more simple questions—Who takes care of defending India’s space assets? Who secures our sovereign realms from the strategic and tactical dangers emanating from orbital and outer space threats?—the current structure of India’s Space Commission warrants a re-assessment.
In 2019, India established the Defence Space Agency (DSA) under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), with two other agencies, the Armed Forces Special Operations Division and the Defence Cyber Agency. It is, indeed, a fact that these are the initial formative years for the DSA, but does that mean it does not have a place in the Space Commission? This question is beginning to impact security thinkers and planners in the country tasked to monitor India’s comprehensive security needs. From their perspective, these are dangerous gaps that must be filled fast.
In 2019, India established the Defence Space Agency (DSA) under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), with two other agencies, the Armed Forces Special Operations Division and the Defence Cyber Agency.
The Indian government took some bold and long-pending decisions when it initiated the space reforms in 2020. The Space Commission, during these reforms, expanded its members and got new representatives: it invited the Chairman of the newly-created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Chairman-Standing Committee of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Council, and the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. Since its formation, the Space Commission has been overly civilian, with a majority of its representation being from the civilian space agency Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Even after bringing in new members, the inordinately civilian influence on the Commission remains to this day, as its chairman is also the Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of the ISRO. What’s more of a concern is that ISRO is genuinely not in a position to execute ‘space defence’ measures, as such activities may fall under the purview of militarisation, an attribute it does not want to be associated with as an institution.
The DSA is not structurally part of the Department of Space, which is understood. Still, it is difficult to comprehend why there are no attempts to make it a part of the Space Commission. The conspicuous absence of representation from the IDS or the DSA in the Space Commission begs the question of whether the Commission is a civilian-economic body by design. If yes, we must live with the fact that there is no other equally empowered Commission where these many secretaries, academics, and the National Security Advisor (NSA) would come together to assist the DSA and IDS in building assets necessary for the ‘space defence’ of India.
If the current ‘civilian’ Space Commission has no room for the DSA or IDS, then a separate defence ‘Space Commission’ be created. If two ‘space commissions’ are not viable, there is only one eventuality: the reform of the Space Commission with equal representation that takes into account the civilian, commercial and military aspects of India’s space activities. Such a reform would first warrant the participation of the Chief of the Defence Staff to plug in the tactical feed of the DSA, the next-to-come Indian Space Command and the Indian Space Force into the Space Commission. There are three reasons why this topic has come about now.
In October 2024, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the third phase of the Space-Based Surveillance Project.
First, in October 2024, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the third phase of the Space-Based Surveillance Project. The earlier two phases involved the launches of sets of four and six ‘spy’ satellites, respectively. The third phase features the launch of 52 ‘spy’ satellites, all managed by the IDS (read DSA) via the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). The civilian space agency will never build intelligence-gathering satellites. Even in the recent past, the electronic intelligence satellite, under Project Kautilya, was built by the Defence Research Development Organization. The 52 satellites, too, are likely coming from the domestic commercial space market.
Second, the Ministry of Defence is fast emerging as a leading end-user, customer, and operator of space assets in India. It has begun to cultivate an ecosystem of commercial players and leading national R&D laboratories, which demands a separate infrastructure outside the civilian confines of ISRO. In the past couple of years, the Ministry of Defence’s Innovation in Defence Excellence, better known as the IDEX scheme, has financed several early-stage space companies under its ‘Mission DefSpace Challenge’ since 2022. This is only the beginning, and a large section of India’s commercial space enterprises will soon get business orders from the DSA and the forces.
In the past couple of years, the Ministry of Defence’s Innovation in Defence Excellence, better known as the IDEX scheme, has financed several early-stage space companies under its ‘Mission DefSpace Challenge’ since 2022.
Third, the civilian and military space domains are not competitors but complement each other. The best example, which will be seen in the coming days, is the comprehensive operational role of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force in the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. This relationship will only strengthen in the future as Gaganyaan and Bharatiya Antariksha Station begin to take shape.
Just like space technology is always dual-use, the country's commission overseeing the development, deployment, and domestic and external trade of space technology and its sciences must include one of its fast-growing end users. The Space Commission was established when ISRO and its parent body, the Department of Space, were solo space technology designers, builders, operators, and commercialisers. Now that this solo authority is a thing of the past, a ‘defence’ representation in the Space Commission is warranted.
Chaitanya Giri is a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation’s Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology.
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Dr. Chaitanya Giri is a Fellow at ORF’s Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology. His work focuses on India’s space ecosystem and its interlinkages with ...
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