The innovative use of downstream space technologies could enhance IMEC's security and prosperity, despite the ongoing Middle East conflict
Image Source: Getty
This article is part of the essay series “Sagarmanthan Edit 2024”
The India-Middle-East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), which were announced in September 2023 during the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in New Delhi, met with its first major challenge—the October 2023 Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Several experts have expressed that IMEC is far-fetched given the active geopolitical hotspots in the region. However, not many of these analyses attempt to suggest solutions to ensure the security of IMEC, which is crucial for its immediate and distant beneficiaries. The security of IMEC will ensure peace and shared prosperity, which will have immediate implications for the PGII. The innovative application of downstream space technologies and services—be it Earth observation, satellite communications or positioning, navigation, and timing systems could make IMEC more secure and prosperous.
The IMEC can bring together mature space technologies and services from commercial space entities, nurtured by all founding and potential IMEC partners, with an international Space-IMEC Industrial Consortium.
Any trade network in the modern world can only be successfully operationalised with tools that provide the necessary space-based backbone to command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). When the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was conceptualised, the Chinese government wisely recognised the need for space support in its corridors. However, the Space Silk Road, the orbital element of the BRI, was wholly led by Chinese space assets, leaving no room for the trusteeship and partnership of BRI partner countries. The IMEC, on the other hand, is not a single-country-led corridor. IMEC has eight founding partners— Saudi Arabia, the European Union, India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, Italy, and the United States—with nearly all except Jordan pursuing advanced space capabilities. The IMEC can bring together mature space technologies and services from commercial space entities, nurtured by all founding and potential IMEC partners, with an international Space-IMEC Industrial Consortium. The combination of commercial and strategic interests will set such an international consortium apart from what was proposed by China with its domineering Space Silk Road.
Secure logistics and supply chain management are crucial cornerstones of the Indian economy in particular, and the global economy in general. A dedicated set of orbital satellites that ensure the secure movement of traded goods at ports and along road, rail and maritime routes, are essential. Satellite communication, Positioning Navigation and Timing (PNT), and remote sensing are already integral to global trade and shipping. These space-based technologies and their services have greatly assisted in the real-time tracking of traded goods and containers, helped in optimising routes by forecasting the weather to mitigate risks, and improved inventory management. Satellite communications networks have helped with seamless coordination and facilitated advanced geospatial analysis for supply chain management, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs across industries.
A dedicated set of orbital satellites that ensure the secure movement of traded goods at ports and along road, rail and maritime routes, are essential.
A recent report by Novaspace, a space-tech consulting firm formed by the merger of SpaceTec Partners and Euroconsult, has forecasted that non-geostationary orbit usage for maritime communications will grow from almost 40,600 vessels in 2023 to 90,000 vessels in 2033, a growth from 20 percent to 90 percent in 10 years. This growth is expected to be further propelled by the creation of new maritime trade corridors, including IMEC, the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor and even the Belt and Road Initiative. According to the global container shipping giant, Hapag-Lloyd, the global smart container market, which aims to connect every container transported in the world through the internet-of-things (IoT), is expected to grow, with 25 percent of all containers in the world being connected to some IoT device by 2026. Additionally, satellite-connected smart containers are also geared to bring down the carbon footprint of the shipping industry, a big plus for the IMEC, making it environmentally sustainable. Connecting ships and containers even in non-trackable seas, as is the present case, will also ensure that traded goods are not subject to tampering, accidents, damages, cargo thefts, and the smuggling of illicit and contraband goods.
Among the IMEC members, India, the EU and the US have their respective PNT systems—Navigation with Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Galileo and the Global Positioning System (GPS). For IMEC to remain operational for a long time, resilient PNT systems and redundancies will be essential. To that end, the three systems could be made interoperable along the corridors. In the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the US Congress formally acknowledged NAVIC as an “allied system” for the GPS along with Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) and EU’s Galileo. This recognition only enables strong PNT support for the IMEC corridor. IMEC members devoid of their own PNT, especially UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, can rely on NAVIC’s excellent coverage of their geographies. This would positively enable road logistics companies, UAE’s Etihad Rail, the Saudi Arabian Railways, and the proposed Gulf Cooperation Council Railway to efficiently, securely, and sustainably carry out land-mode trade along the IMEC corridor.
Given the growing imperative of cyber security, a secure high-speed data pipeline that could potentially facilitate the export of India’s IT services to West Asia and beyond is also proposed.
IMEC, even if the Eastern Corridor is activated before the resolution of the conflict in the Middle East, would have dimensions that go beyond container trade. The corridor envisions connectivity and collaboration through renewable energy grids, free trade zones, hydrogen pipelines, interconnected underwater cables, integrated digital finance infrastructure, and multimodal infrastructure development. Given the growing imperative of cyber security, a secure high-speed data pipeline that could potentially facilitate the export of India’s IT services to West Asia and beyond is also proposed. Mumbai, India’s financial and commercial capital, is gearing up to become the country’s ‘data capital’ with its suburban expanse intending to develop an information technology capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. Mumbai is already the foremost submarine optic fibre cable landing city in India, and these capacities could grow as the Eastern Corridor of IMEC takes shape.
Domestically, India’s growing commercial space ecosystem is looking for newer business opportunities and use cases. Without a doubt, IMEC may become a major source of business for the Indian space economy, which aims to grow to 10 percent of the global space economy by 2030. IMEC is a good opportunity for the commercial space companies of its members to forge international partnerships, including revenue-sharing partnerships. These will be mutually beneficial and work towards the aspirations set by the establishment of the PGII. Space technologies and services have the inherent potential to securely operationalise IMEC and positively offer peace, prosperity, and progress to South and West Asia, as well as Eastern Europe and the Atlantic North. It is time to positively and constructively work towards it.
Prithvi Gupta works as a Junior Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation
Chaitanya Giri is a Fellow with the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Prithvi works as a Junior Fellow in the Strategic Studies Programme. His research primarily focuses on analysing the geoeconomic and strategic trends in international relations. ...
Read More +
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 ...
Read More +
PREV
