The Indian Space Programme

by Gurbir Singh

  On 30 August 2013, ISRO launched GSAT-7, the first spacecraft dedicated to the Indian defence forces, specifically to provide communication services for the Indian Navy. Until then, the Navy had been using the British Inmarsat-C service. Also known as INSAT-4F and Rukmini, GSAT-7 was designed to replace the VSAT satellite communication service available to the military at the time. VSAT is a commercially available satellite-based data communication service of up to a few Mbit/s that requires a dish, typically about a meter in diameter. It is a service used by most commercial shipping and others who operate in remote locations and available from several international providers. GSAT-7 provides the Indian Navy’s warships, including the Rajput-class destroyers, Brahmaputra-class frigates, Sukanya-class patrol vessels and submarines, with secure encrypted digital voice and data communication using four Ku, one S-band and three Ultra High Frequency and C-band transponders.[923]

  Two years after the Navy’s GSAT-7, the Indian Army received its communication satellite, GSAT-6 (also known as INSAT-4E), with five C-band and five S-band transponders in GEO. GSAT-6 is equipped with an unusually large 5 m diameter antenna, which was unfurled after launch. While the C-band communication footprint covers the whole of India and beyond, S-band transmissions use the large antenna to concentrate signals in five separate spot beams over India. This not only increases signal strength that facilitates small handheld communication devices but also allows a frequency to be reused dynamically, as each spot beam is geographically separated from the other. Radio frequency spectrum is a limited resource and is allocated by the International Telecommunications Union. Satellite operators are required to strictly adhere to frequencies allocated to prevent unintended radio interference and impairing operations of other satellites.

  ISRO has built but not launched the dedicated satellite for the IAF, GSAT-7A, due to the non-availability of a frequency in the radio spectrum required for the satellite.[924] Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, airborne radar and autonomous missiles of the IAF are increasing the already high demand for a dedicated communication service.

  On 2 October 2016, the ISRO chairman asserted that the “Indian space agency will not be found lacking in helping secure India’s national interests now and in future.[925] This was the first time ISRO had publicly declared the active role of its satellites in supporting Indian military operations. Before India operationalised its overt military space assets, “the satellite requirements of its armed services were being met from existing facilities.”[926] Having to use shared commercial communication satellites for secure military communications illustrated India’s limited appetite and capacity to exploit space for military use. Further, in the absence of a reliable heavy launch vehicle, India must turn to a foreign launch service provider for launching its exclusively military satellites. In the interest of national security, nations usually avoid foreign nationals in the chain of design, build, launch and operations of strategic national space capability. ISRO, like NASA, is a public agency and a product of a democratic nation. When required for reasons of national security, its assets can be requisitioned for military use. Any of ISRO’s satellites with a communication payload or the capability to image surface features at a high resolution of about 1 m or less can be used by the military for surveillance, intelligence gathering and offensive or defensive communication. At the beginning of 2014, four of ISRO’s 25 operational satellites were suitable for military use.[927]

  By the end of 2016, India’s military presence in space broadly consisted of two dedicated satellites (GSAT-6 and GSAT-7) for use by its armed forces, the Cartosat and RISAT series and the NavIC constellation.[928] RISAT-1 and RISAT-2, though motivated by and designed for strategic requirements, are formally classified as Earth Observation satellites.[929] When required to meet national security demands, this capacity is shared between the Indian Navy, Army and Air Force. The military services ISRO provides include high-resolution real-time images for surveillance, navigation for military assets and secure voice, video and data communication the use of small mobile handsets.

  Even though space was militarised with the advent of communication satellites, it has not been systematically weaponised as land, air and sea have been. By mid-2016, there were 1,419 operational satellites in Earth orbit, of which only 146 were categorised as military.[930] Further, none of the spacecraft currently in Earth orbit is designed and deployed with a capability and sole intention to destroy other spacecraft in orbit.[931] China, Russia and especially the US have developed a significant space-related military capability. India’s military investment and presence in space is minimal.[932] Even though India’s space programme has been uniquely civilian in its origin, ISRO is now active in pure scientific research and commercial space services and provides support to the Indian Armed Forces and intelligence services.

  For All Mankind

  The UN was constructed by peoples who had experienced first-hand the brutality of World War II. It was charged with the responsibility for developing a progressive international law and promoting international cooperation. The unstated hope of the member nations was that the UN would prevent another world war. The sudden arrival of Sputnik in 1957, introduced a new realm of space. It was extraordinarily different from anything humans had experienced before. In the midst of distrust that accompanied the Cold War, the UN was in the right place at the right time to facilitate international discussion and cooperation and develop the conventions, principles and treaties under international law on how this new realm should be accessed as a shared resource. A year after the launch of Sputnik, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) created Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), a committee that encapsulated its remit in its name. Four years after Sputnik, in 1961, Yuri Gagarin demonstrated that space was an environment open to exploration by humans.

  Figure 16‑1 Soviet, UK and USA Ambassadors signing the Outer Space Treaty

  observed by US President Johnson. Washington DC January 27, 1967. Credit UNOOSA

  The first step in this framework was the adoption of the Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1963. The five legal principles led to five UN resolutions and then five treaties. These five treaties lay out the framework for international law to protect space as an environment and ensure it is open to peoples of all nations for exploration for the mutual benefit of all mankind. Over the subsequent half century, through a number of conferences, committees, sub committees and working groups, most UN member nations have agreed to adhere to them. The UNGA’s five Legal Principles that determine how member nations operate in space are:

  Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space. Adopted on 13 December 1963.

  Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting. Adopted on 10 December 1982.

  Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space. Adopted on 3 December 1986.

  Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space. Adopted on 14 December 1992.

  Declaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interest of All States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of Developing Countries. Adopted on 13 December 1996.

  Throughout human history, the discovery of a new resource has usually been followed by exploitation, contamination, conflict over ownership and denudation of the very attributes that made the resource unique. The South American rain forests, coral reefs off the coast of Australia, barren landscape of Antarctica and the slopes of Mount Everest are no longer as pristine nor plentiful as they once were. Shared common environments where individual actors focus only on their own specific needs inevitably lead to a premature loss for everyone. To protect space from such an eventuality and in keeping with the key elements of the UN charter, the pursu
it of international peace, collaboration, friendship and harmony, the UNGA set up the COPUOS very early into the space age.

  On 14 December 1972, the race to the Moon ended with the departure of Apollo 17 from the surface of the Moon. That was followed by the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program and the symbolic handshake between the American and Russian astronauts three hours after their spacecraft docked in Earth orbit in July 1976. Since then, the number and types of spacecraft entering space have increased, along with the number of countries that have developed the capability to do so. While space programmes in the past were shaped by political rivalries, today, they are more pragmatic, targeting commercial, economic and national developmental goals. The services delivered from space have evolved and become an essential component of a modern national infrastructure. The spacecraft in space delivering have become assets requiring military protection.

  India has been a member of COPUOS from the outset in 1959. Throughout its development, the Indian space programme has nurtured close connections with the UN. In addition to financial support, the UN has provided a platform to support ISRO’s international collaborative goals and provided a global window for its achievements. It was the COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee that in 1962 advocated the building of the equatorial sounding rocket launch station at Thumba. It was under the UN flag in Thumba that the US and USSR scientists, along with scientists from other nations, worked side-by-side, an unexpected COPUOS outcome in the midst of the Cold War. Since its inception, COPUOS has convened three international conferences, UNISPACE-I in 1968, UNISPACE-II in 1982 and UNISPACE-III in 1999. They shared a single remit, to examine the practical benefits of space exploration and the opportunities available to non-space-faring nations with special relevance to the needs of developing nations. The next one, known as UNISPACE+50, is scheduled for 2018.

  In February 1968, Sarabhai led a formal ceremony at TERLS where Thumba was dedicated as a UN facility. Six months later, Sarabhai was in Vienna as the Vice-President and Scientific Chairman of the first UN Conference (UNISPACE-I) on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Yash Pal from ISRO was the Secretary-General of UNISPACE-II in Vienna in August 1982. Four years after he stood down as the Chairman of ISRO, U.R. Rao held the post of COPUOS chairman during UNISPACE-III. M.Y.S. Prasad, a former director of Sriharikota, contributed to the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) Debris Mitigation Guidelines.

  Until recently, only a “few nation-states controlled access to space, owned the most space assets and considered it their domain.”[933] The COPUOS has become a forum for the development of international space law to prevent those ‘few nations’ from becoming the gatekeepers to space. Over a period of 12 years since 1967, five treaties have been adopted by the UN.

  The Outer Space Treaty. Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. Came into force on 10 October 1967.

  The Rescue Agreement. Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space. Came into force on 3 December 1968.

  The Liability Convention. Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects. Came into force on 1 September 1972.

  The Registration Convention. Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space. Came into force on 15 September 1976.

  The Moon Agreement. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. Came into force on 11 July 1984.

  It is these treaties that individual nations can choose to sign and ratify and thus commit to international law. Although not all member states sign and ratify all the treaties, most do adhere to them. So far, space activities in India have been the exclusive domain of the state-run ISRO. India has complied with Outer Space Treaty in the absence of domestic legislation. However, as the private space sector takes root in India as it has done elsewhere, domestic legislation will be required to ensure that treaty obligations continue to be met.

  War and Space

  The Outer Space Treaty focused on the peaceful uses of outer space and preventing the use of weapons of mass destruction in space. In the 1960s, with the growing nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers, the presence of nuclear weapons in space seemed inevitable. The Outer Space Treaty does not explicitly prevent militarisation of space assets, only weapons of mass destruction. To address that shortcoming, two additional treaties have attempted to stop space from becoming a future war zone, but with minimal engagement from key protagonists, both have been ineffective. In 2000, the UNGA passed the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) Treaty. In 2008, the Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (fortunately abbreviated to PPWT) was presented at the UN Conference on Disarmament (CD). The CD is the international platform for defence and military negotiations.[934] It was established in 1979 and has a membership of 65 nations. It meets annually presided by its members on a rotating basis with a specific remit of disarmament.[935] The nature and scope of disarmament include the cessation of the nuclear arms race, nuclear disarmament and prevention of a nuclear war and an arms race in outer space. PAROS and PPWT attempt to diminish the prospect of using space for war arising from the new capabilities based on technological innovations in lasers, communication and space transport.

  With the more powerful and rich nations attempting to gain the upper hand, neither PAROS nor PPWT has made any substantial progress. The patterns of history prevail in the present. When one nation invests in a programme for national defence, its neighbours see it as a threat, initiating an arms race. The nuclear arms race of the 1960s is being replayed but with space as the new high ground. In 1949, the USSR developed its nuclear arsenal because of the US, China in response to the USSR, India because of China and Pakistan because of India. PAROS is in part a response to this build-up of nuclear arsenals on Earth and the fear of this race continuing into outer space. PPWT, primarily a Chinese and Russian initiative, was introduced because PAROS had not made much headway. With “its large missile defence program, technical superiority and huge military budget the United States has consistently refused to negotiate PAROS in the CD.”[936] The US considers the PAROS principles too restrictive for its future ambitions and regards the Russian proposal as a tactic to prohibit or limit its access to space. It considers the PPWT ambiguous and its restrictions incompatible with its plans particularly regarding commercial opportunities in space.

  The CD has already negotiated treaties, such as Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil thereof (also known as the Seabed Treaty). By June 2015, there were 77 parties to ENMOD and 89 nations signed the Seabed Treaty.[937] In 1979, the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (also known as the Moon Treaty or Moon Agreement) came into effect, and there was the expectation that it would be supported by member nations in the same way that they supported ENMOD. After all, in 1979, conceptually the realm of seabed was perhaps just as unique and challenging an environment as the surface of the Moon.

  The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA maintains a record of the status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space. As on 1 January 2016, its records show that while most nations have ratified the Outer Space Treaty, Rescue Agreement, Liability Convention and the Registration Convention, most nations with a developed space programme, including the US, Russia and China, have refused to sign the Moon Treaty. India is among the four nations that have signed the Moon Treaty but have not yet ratified it. In its 2005 publication Vision for 2020, the US’s Space Command expressed its vision for “Full Spectrum Dominance”
. In this vision, the “medium of space is the fourth medium of warfare, along with land, sea, and air.”[938] One assessment of this vision concludes, “nearly every country in the world but the US supports the preservation of space from weaponisation.”[939] The US appears unable to endorse a treaty that will prevent implementing its principle of Full Force Integration (the integration of space forces with air, land and sea forces, enabling war fighters to take full advantage of space capabilities as an integral part of special, joint and combined warfare). Modern warfare, as with other aspects of 21st-century societies, has moved from a national to a global context. The US, USSR and China are consolidating their armed forces (land, sea and air) with their space capabilities under an aerospace or space command.