NEW DELHI: With the need for ‘deep’ as well as ‘persistent’ surveillance of enemy territory being reinforced by
Operation Sindoor, India plans to fast-track the launch of 52 dedicated satellites for the armed forces. It is also in the process of finalising a comprehensive military space doctrine.
Phase 3 of Space-Based Surveillance (SBS) programme, which was approved by the PM-led cabinet committee on security in Oct last year at a cost of Rs 26,968 crore, involves the construction and launch of 21 satellites by Isro and 31 by three private companies.
The first of these satellites is to be launched by April next year, with all 52 to be deployed before 2029-end, as part of the project being spearheaded by Defence Space Agency (DSA) under the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) of defence ministry.
“Work is underway to compress these timelines to launch the satellites faster into the low earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary orbit. The three private companies that have got the contracts have been told to speed up building of the satellites,” a source told TOI.
“The aim of SBS-3 is to cover much larger areas of China and Pakistan, as well as the Indian Ocean Region, with shorter revisit times (interval between two consecutive surveillance sweeps of the same location) and much better resolution. The space doctrine is also being fine-tuned,” he added.
Parallelly, IAF is pursuing the case for three high-altitude platform system (HAPS) aircraft, which are basically unmanned aerial vehicles or ‘pseudo-satellites’ that operate in the stratosphere for long durations on ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions, as reported by TOI earlier.
During Operation Sindoor, which saw intense hostilities with Pakistan from May 7 to 10, India used domestic satellites like Cartosat, as well as foreign commercial ones, for tracking military movements in Pakistan. “We need to shorten our OODA (observe, orient, decide and act) loop. The faster India gets the 52-satellite constellation up in space the better,” another source said.
India also needs to put in place its satellite shield since China is developing weapons like direct ascent anti-satellite missiles, co-orbital satellites, electronic warfare equipment, and directed energy weapons like high-powered lasers to contest or deny other nations access to the space domain.
China’s military space programme has expanded from operating just 36 satellites in 2010 to over 1,000 by 2024, with 360 of them dedicated to ISR missions.
At a seminar earlier this month, IDS chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit had stressed the need to extend India’s “surveillance envelope” while underlining the critical role of “real-time situational awareness” in conflicts.
“We must detect, identify and track potential threats not when they approach our borders, but when they are still in their staging areas, airfields and bases, deep within an adversary’s territory,” he said.
China’s creation of PLA Aerospace Force in April last year underlined its recognition of space as the “ultimate high ground” in modern warfare. “Their satellites have recently demonstrated sophisticated ‘dogfighting’ manoeuvres in LEO, practising tactics designed to track and potentially disable adversary space assets. They have evolved from a ‘kill chain’ to a ‘kill mesh’ — an integrated network that seamlessly interweaves ISR satellites with weapon systems,” Air Marshal Dixit said.