Space Alliances Could Aid India’s Strategic Pursuits
Context: Launch of Indian Space Association (ISpA) as a part of Centre’s follow-up of reforms, has numerous benefits in space sector of India.
Significance of Indian Space Association (ISpA)
- Integration platform: This industry body can serve as a platform to bring public space agencies and private players together to work on making the most of India’s potential.
- Prioritising start-ups: ISpA excited the interest of tech start-ups, who are keen to leverage its facilities to spread their wings into the far yonder.
- Leading innovation: Reforms aimed at commercialization of near-earth contraptions for use of telecom services, internet apps and so on, with competition among companies expected to lead them up innovation curve.
- Mapping of India and pin-pointing of locations could be sharpened with the help of orbital devices designed for domestic purposes.
- Space tourism, for which a market may emerge in future.
- Streamlining ISRO’s role: ISRO to focus on space exploration and research. These are vital not just for knowledge, but also India’s strategic orientation, and a successful industry could form a bedrock for ambitious missions.
- From a security vantage-point, space must not just be kept free of weaponry, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 needs to be upheld by all.
- Addressing China threat: Given Beijing’s record of rule-defiance and assertion of territorial claims, its respect for exploratory principles farther away cannot be counted upon.
- Scope of expanding space dimension under
