Defence Space Command & India’s ASAT Capabilities

As satellites guide missiles, monitor borders, and power communication, space has become the new frontier of warfare. Once a domain of exploration, it’s now a strategic high ground — and India is preparing to defend it. With the creation of the Defence Space Agency (DSA) and the successful test of Mission Shakti, India has signaled loud and clear: we are ready for the challenges of space-based warfare.

Mission Shakti: India’s ASAT Breakthrough

On 27 March 2019, India shocked the world with the launch of Mission Shakti, an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile test that successfully destroyed a live satellite in low-earth orbit.

• Launched by DRDO using a modified Ballistic Missile Defence interceptor, the test made India the 4th country in the world (after the US, Russia, and China) to demonstrate this capability.

• The destroyed satellite was at ~300 km altitude, ensuring minimal debris risk.

Mission Shakti was not just a demonstration of power, but of precision, control, and space responsibility.

Defence Space Command: India’s Space Sentinel

India’s space security architecture is taking shape through the Defence Space Agency (DSA), headquartered in Bengaluru.

Core Responsibilities:

• Coordinate military operations in space

• Integrate space-based ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance)

• Develop space deterrence policies

• Partner with ISRO and DRDO for dual-use technologies

In 2023, India also set up the Integrated Space Cell, a tri-service body that ensures real-time communication and situational awareness for armed forces through satellites like GSAT-7, RISAT, and CartoSAT.

India’s Space Superiority Vision

India’s ambition is to not just defend its space assets — but to ensure strategic deterrence. Here's how:

• Indigenous Military Satellites: Like GSAT-7A (for IAF), EMISAT (electronic intel), and RISAT-2BR1 for all-weather surveillance.

• SatNav & IRNSS/NavIC: India’s own GPS-like system with military-grade encryption.

• Hypersonic Glide Vehicles & Space Radar under research by DRDO.

India also strongly supports the peaceful use of space but maintains that it will "act decisively" if space assets are threatened."

Final Word: Space — The Silent Battlefield

The future of warfare is being shaped above us — in orbits we can’t see, by technologies we barely understand. In this theatre of invisible threats and limitless possibilities, India's Defence Space Command is our first line of defence.

“In the vast silence of space, even a whisper of power echoes across the globe.”

India is watching the skies — not just for defence, but for dominance with responsibility.