| ID | 130002 |
| Title Proper | India and space weaponization |
| Other Title Information | why space debris trumps kinetic energy antisatellite weapons as the principal threat to satellites |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Gopalaswamy, Bharath ; Kampani, Gaurav |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Since China tested a Kinetic-Energy Anti-Satellite (KE-ASAT) weapon in 2007, evidence has surfaced that India may have initiated a similar program. This article makes an anticipatory policy intervention against the development of KE-ASAT weapons. It presents data to show that space debris, and not KE-ASAT weapons, pose the highest risk for the safe operation of Indian satellites. It models a KE-ASAT weapons exchange between India and China in three different scenarios to demonstrate that use of such weapons even on a limited scale would produce an exponential increase in space debris. The latter would threaten the safe operation of satellites for all countries concerned. These data suggest that the concept of deterrence as understood in conventional and nuclear spheres is not easily transportable to the domain of space weapons, which threaten the physical destruction of satellites. If weaponization of space becomes inevitable, policy makers would be better off investing in weapons that disable but do not physically destroy satellites. |
| `In' analytical Note | India Review Vol.13, No.1; January-March 2014: p.40-57 |
| Journal Source | India Review Vol.13, No.1; January-March 2014: p.40-57 |
| Key Words | Kinetic-Energy Anti-Satellite - KE-ASAT ; China ; Anticipatory Policy Intervention - API ; Anticipatory Intervention ; KE-ASAT Weapons ; Indian Satellites ; India ; Space Security ; Space Policy ; Antisatellite Weapons ; Satellites Threat ; Defence Strategy ; Space Weapons ; Weapons ; Nuclear Weapons |