During last few decades, Chinas performance in the outer space arena has been praiseworthy and they

have successfully completed various technologically challenging projects. At the same time in the post-Cold War era, China is the only state to conduct a significant anti-satellite A!A"# test, in $anuary %&&', giving rise to a significant amount of ha(ardous space debris. !ubse)uently, China has also underta*en several missions where their intentions behind conducting certain e+periments in space are unclear. ,ery recently, a maneuver made by Chinese satellites possibly using a mechanical arm on one satellite to grab another satellite# has further increased the suspicion about their possible intent. -ence, .ndia needs to factor in Chinas investments in counter-space capabilities in its strategic appreciation of threat matri+. At the global level, the /nited !tates often does not disclose the details of all the e+periments they underta*e in outer space. 0or e+ample, there have been three flights of the robotic 1-2' spaceplane since %&3&, with no clarity regarding its e+act purpose. Also, in %&&%, the /! unilaterally withdrew from the "reaty on the 4imitation of Anti-5allistic 6issile !ystems A56 "reaty, 37'3#. "his essentially was the message to 8ussia and the rest of the world that the /! would not li*e to be hostage to any legal architecture limiting their missile defense activities. All this indicates that they are against forming any strong and binding space legal architecture. Also, in order to address the Chinese challenge, the /! could increase their activities in the counter-space technology area. "his may eventually lead to the development of a military space race between the /! and China, indirectly affecting .ndia. 9iven this international bac*drop, .ndia needs to develop its policy options in the space domain. Wea*ness of the country is the wea*ness of the people ..nstead of using the money for helping poor they are using this for unnecessary interplanetary travels. .ndia currently offers 3:' transponders to broadcasters, and has ta*en 7; foreign transponders on lease to meet the increasing domestic demand, thus clearly indicating that .ndia is not able to sustain the increasing demands of the communication sector for transponder re)uirements. 9!A"-3& Communication !atellite has a life cycle of fifteen years. "his satellite after 3; years could pollute space.

9!A"-3&s successful launch should be welcomed but it is also important to analyse as to why .!8< is not able to cater for domestic re)uirements leave alone grabbing a slice of the pie in the growing international transponder mar*et. 5roadly spea*ing, .!8< has mastered the art of transponder ma*ing but lac*s in the capacity to launch bigger communication satellites. =resently, its basic inade)uacy is the lac* of a cryogenic engine, which is essential for launching heavy satellites into space. .ndias most successful roc*et launcher, the =!4,, only allows the launch of satellites weighing appro+imately %&&& *g. .t is actually

the failure to develop a fully reliable 9!4, launcher to place heavy satellites in the geostationary orbit that is restricting the rapid growth of .ndias space prowess. .ndia has been testing the 9!4, since %&&3. <ut of seven launches till date, only two have been fully successful. <ne of the major reasons for the delay in .ndias second moon mission Chandrayaan-%# is the absence of a reliable 9!4,. "he performance of the 9!4,-0&: flight of December %;, %&3& with 9!A"-;= !atellite onboard# was normal up to >'.; seconds from lift-off. "he events leading to the failure got initiated at >'.? seconds after lift-off. !oon, the vehicle started developing larger errors in its orientation leading to build-up of higher angle of attac* and higher structural loads and conse)uently vehicle bro*e up at ;2.? seconds from lift-off as seen visually as well as from the 8adars#. 0urther, the absence of a 9!4, is also affecting .ndias strategic preparedness because .ndia cannot launch satellites re)uired for strategic purposes from a foreign launch pad or atop a foreign roc*et.

.ndia manages only one or two roc*et launches per year while countries such as China, 8ussia and the /nited !tates each underta*es more than %& roc*et launches per year.