India and the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

India Review

Volumn 10, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 440-452

  Chandrashekar, S ^a  

^a NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84859252709     PISSN: 14736489     EISSN: 15573036     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14736489.2011.624034     Document Type: Article

References (23)

1. Though Vikram Sarabhai is considered the father of the Indian Space Program, it was Satish Dhawan who lent it substance and direction. The building of these capabilities is described in some technical detail in an article he wrote for The Indian Academy of Sciences. S. Dhawan, "A Glimpse of the Indian Space Programme, " Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Vol. 1C, No. 1 (July 1978), pp. 1-26.
2. R. R. Navalgund and K. Kasturirangan, "The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite-A Programme Overview, " Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Engineering Sciences Vol. 6, No. 4 (December 1983), pp. 313-336.
3. An updated view of the Indian space program dealing with the space launchers, satellites, remote sensing, communications, space sciences, and other international and legal matters is available in a special issue of Current Science devoted to the Indian Space program. See Current Science, Vol. 93, No. 12 (December 2007), pp. 1645-1646, 1697-1827.
4. S. Chandrashekar, "The Emerging World Space Order and its Implications for India's Security, " in Subrata Ghoshroy and Goetz Neuneck, eds., South Asia at a Crossroads: Conflict or Cooperation in the Age of Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense and Space Rivalries (Germany: Nomos, 2010), pp. 217-228.
5. Bureau of International Security, "Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water. " Accessible via http://www.state.gov
6. For a comprehensive understanding of "peaceful, " "non-peaceful" uses of space and a definition of a "space weapon, " see Bhupendra Jasani, "Introduction, " in Bhupendra Jasani ed., Peaceful and Non-Peaceful Uses of Space: Problems of Definition for the Prevention of an Arms Race (New York: Taylor & Francis, 1991), pp. 1-18.
7. Three international Conferences on Space have taken place in 1968, 1982, and 1999. The 1982 Conference made an explicit reference to the arms race in space. However, in the 1999 conference, this issue did not figure in any direct way in the main report though individual countries and other speakers including the Secretary General did address the issue of an arms race in space. Obviously the international climate had changed and the division of work between the CD and COPUOS had become accepted. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, (OOSA), "The Report of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. " Accessible via http:// www.oosa.unvienna.org
8. Conference on DisarmamentWorking Paper presented by the Delegations of China, the Russian Federation, Vietnam, Indonesia, Belarus, Zimbabwe and Syrian Arab Republic, "Possible Elements for a Future International Legal Agreement on the Prevention of the Deployment ofWeapons in Outer Space the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects" (CD/1679, June 28, 2002). Accessible via http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org
9. Conference on Disarmament, Draft Treaty presented by China and the Russian Federation, "TreatyOn Prevention of the Placement ofWeapons in Outer Space and the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects" (CD 1839, February 29, 2008). Accessible via http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org
10. In 2007 during the debate on PAROS, the US protested against the Chinese ASAT test and the debris problem it had created. Ambassador Christina Rocca, "Statement to the Conference on Disarmament" (CD February 13, 2007). Accessible via http://www. reachingcriticalwill.org
11. For some details of the test see Philip C. Saunders and Charles D. Lutes, "China's ASAT Test: Motivations and Implications, " Joint Force Quarterly Vol. 46, No. 3 (2007), pp. 39-45. Accessible via http://www.hsdl.org
12. India has a large number of Indian Remote sensing satellites in such orbits. The Chinese test debris does pose a problem for these satellites.
13. International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISIS), "China's successful anti-missile test, " Strategic Comments Vol. 6, Comment 6 (February 2010). Accessible via http://www.iiss. org
14. S. Chandrashekar, Arvind Kumar, and Rajaram Nagappa, "An Assessment of Pakistan's Ballistic Missile Programme-Technical and Strategic Capability, " National Institute of Advanced Studies, Report R5-06 (2006), pp. 22-25.
15. For an Indian assessment of Iran's Space and Missile capabilities see Rajaram Nagappa, S. Chandrashekar, Lalitha Sundaresan, and N. Ramani, "Iran's Safir Launch Vehicle, " National Institute of Advanced Studies, Report No. R1-09 (July 2009), pp. 1-14.
16. For a US view see East West Institute, Iran's Nuclear and Missile Potential-A Joint Threat Assessment by US and Russian Technical Experts (New York: East West Institute, May 2009). Accessible via http://www.docs.ewi.info
17. After the launch of India's first space launch vehicle the SLV-3, the US led an international effort to curb India's space launch vehicle industry and set about establishing the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
18. The value of a transponder depends on a number of factors including the location of the satellite in geostationary orbit, the frequency of operation of the transponder, the power level at which the transponder functions and on the coverage of the associated antenna beams.
19. If international prices were to be used in terms of building and launching IRS satellites these values would increase two or threefold.
20. This is derived from an earlier version of the valuation of India's space assets by the former Chairman of ISRO. K. Kasturirangan, "The Emerging World Space Order-An Indian Perspective" Keynote Address, Space Security Conference, New Delhi, November 13-14, 2007.
21. Though the IGMP called for a number of missiles including short range ones for a number of different purposes only the longer range missiles are relevant for any discussions on space weapons.
22. For the early Agni missiles the first stage boosters were based on developments of the first stage of the civilian SLV-3 launcher. A few people, including Abdul Kalam (the project director for the SLV-3 programme, who later on led the Integrated Guided Missile Program, became the DRDO chief and eventually the President of India), moved from ISRO to DRDO. Western analysts often cite this as a diversion of technology, which ISRO acquired from the outside world ostensibly for civilian purposes into the military domain. However, though the SLV rocket booster specifications were based on theUS Scout rocket, these were derived from information available in the public domain. The conversion of specifications into hard-core capabilities involves a large component of development and learning by doing. Technological capabilities are acquired through tacit rather than explicit knowledge. System integration of complex technologies can also be acquired only through organizational routines and learning. The design of the PSLV launcher is a fairly unique design derived largely from constraints imposed on ISRO by international sanction regimes.
23. The first test which intercepted an incoming missile at an altitude of 50 km, which is outside the atmosphere, took place in November 2006. The other three tests, which intercepted the missiles at altitudes of about 15 km, took place in December 2007, March 2009, and July 2010.