| Summary/Abstract |
Over 8,000 satellites, or manmade objects, have been launched till date with nearly 5,000, belonging to 50 countries, still in orbit and nearly half of those are actually operational. Spacecraft have done soft or hard landings on or done flybys of many terrestrial bodies within the solar system, including on Asteroids and Comets. American and Chinese private space companies are part of the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Space warfare is combat that may take place in outer space. It includes attacking objects in space from the Earth, or from another space platform. Till date, no actual war has ever taken place in space, though a number of tests and demonstrations have been performed. International treaties are in place that regulate conflicts in space and limit the installation of space weapon systems, especially nuclear. Major powers have space warfare organisational structures. Many countries have developed and tested space weapon systems ranging from anti-satellite missiles, Railguns, and very small highly mobile satellites nimble enough to manoeuvre around and interact with other orbiting objects to sabotage, hijack, or simply collide with them. Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) would include lasers, linear particle accelerators, or plasma based weaponry. With an eye on growing space capabilities of China, India has been slowly building its capabilities in space. India has tested its anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defence systems and achieved many other key milestones pertaining to space, including the demonstration of India’s anti-satellite (ASAT) capability and establishment of the new tri-service Defence Space Agency (DSA). The thin line dividing the earth’s atmosphere and space is fast shrinking with more platforms transiting between earth and terrestrial locations. Is India prepared and what is its road map ahead is a subject being debated among military and scientific community.
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