India is making significant efforts to improve its space capabilities, with a focus on developing its small satellite (SmSats) sector to address performance limitations and meet crucial military needs—such as Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR). To strengthen its defence communication infrastructure—both territorial and space-based—India is turning to such platforms as HighAltitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) as a cost-effective and versatile solution that can offer extended, high-resolution coverage of specific areas. India can use HAPS to provide 24x7 surveillance of its borders and the Indian Ocean region (IOR).
To this end, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and startup NewSpace Research and Technologies Private Limited (NRT) have joined forces to develop an enormous solar-powered unmanned aircraft that can remain airborne in the stratosphere for several months.
The High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a cutting-edge, solar-powered platform with a wingspan exceeding 50 metres. It belongs to a novel category of unmanned aircraft, developed globally for purposes ranging from persistent surveillance and specialized scientific missions to communication. India’s joint development partnership model to enter the untapped stratospheric realm for military and civilian applications will be named ‘CATS-Infinity’.
Bu hikaye Geopolitics dergisinin May 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Geopolitics dergisinin May 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
India's space economy set to soar
India's burgeoning space economy could see a substantial increase in its global share by 2040. At present, India's space sector contributes a modest $8 billion to the overall cake. However, the government has set its sights on an ambitious target, aiming for a five-fold surge in India's share of the global space economy.
CRITICAL NEED TO BOOST CONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE FLEET
VENUGOPAL MENON explains why India cannot afford to view the critical deficiency in Submarine force levels lightly
BEEFING UP OUR SUBMARINE FLEET
In the last week of March, the Indian Navy displayed its submarine prowess. Eight of its submarines operated together in the Western Indian Ocean Region, a first in three decades, and one of its Scorpene submarines sailed to the Andaman Nicobar Islands, overlooking the Malacca Strait, a critical choke point for China. But how is the comparison with China? RITU SHARMA reports
ENHANCING CRUISE MISSILE CAPABILITY
India’s cruise missile capability has largely evolved as a credible conventional level deterrence since the turn of the new millennium. But much more needs to be done, writes AMARTYA SINHA
BOOSTING DEFENCE EXPORTS
Earlier, India was known to be an arms importer. But today, the country has come out of its comfort zone and found a place in the list of top-25 arms exporter nations argues AMARTYA SINHA
ENHANCING INDIA'S AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE CAPABILITIES
Project NETRA represents a proactive initiative by ISRO to safeguard India's interests in space by mitigating the risks posed by space debris and other hazards, says GIRISH LINGANNA
THE HIMALAYAN TRIANGLE: WHY INDIA KEEPS BHUTAN SAFE FROM CHINA
India, given its special relationship with Bhutan, has been very wary about the possibility of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the signing of a boundary agreement between Bhutan and China, writes SIMRAN SODHI
TROOST, DESAI AND SANCTIONS
The Western sanctions against companies and individuals doing business with Russia have produced a complex set of reactions with lobbyists and shell companies working overtime to beat the rap. A GEOPOLITICS Bureau report
THE KOREA-GATE
India attaches great importance to “three principles of inclusiveness, trust and reciprocity’” for creating the basis for working more closely with like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific such as the Republic of Korea (ROK), better known as South Korea for “a free, peaceful and prosperous region”. Prakash Nanda dissects the relationship and the way ahead
Pushpak RLV-TD successfully lands autonomously
ISRO achieved another significant milestone in reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology with the successful landing of Pushpak (RLV-TD), the winged vehicle, autonomously on the runway.