First Space Exercise ‘Antariksha Abhyas – 2024’

India’s first military exercise to combat space-based threats and protect the country’s space assets, Antariksha Abhyas 2024, began on 11 November 2024 and will be held from 11 to 13 November 2024. 

The Indian Space assets mainly consist of over 100 satellites for communication, weather forecasting, earth observation, navigation, scientific research, defence, and the rockets through which these satellites are launched. 

Who has organised the Antariksha Abhyas 2024?

The Antariksha Abhyas 2024 was organised by the Defence Space Agency of the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff. 

Who Inaugurated the Antariksha Abhyas 2024?

The Antariksha Abhyas 2024 was inaugurated by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan. Speaking on the occasion, General Anil Chauhan emphasised encouraging innovations and development of new-age technologies and state of art systems in collaboration with the Defence  Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Academia,to protect our national interest in space from military threats.

Participant and Aim of the Antariksha Abhyas 2024

Personnel from the Defence Space Agency and its allied units, Indian Army, Air Force and the Indian Navy ,specialist branches under Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff viz Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency and Strategic Forces Command are also participating in the exercise. Representatives from the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Defence Research & Development Organisation are also participating in the exercise.

Aim of the Exercise 

The exercise aims to simulate threats to Indian space assets, such as satellites, from hostile forces and the defences to be mounted by the Indian forces to protect them.  

It will test Indian military capabilities to operate in case Indian space-based assets are destroyed. 

It will also test India's ability to mount counter-defence measures and destroy enemies' space-based assets.

Aerospace Command in India 

The United States, Russia, and China have an integrated Aerospace command to wage war in Space. In India, the government is making efforts to set up such a command, which will include the three services of the armed forces.

The need for an Aerospace Command to tackle the threat to Indian Space assets was recommended by the Naresh Chandra Committee set up by the government of India. The Naresh Chandra committee was set up to review the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the establishment of the Defence Space Agency during the Combined Commanders’ Conference at Air Force Station, Jodhpur, in September 2018 as a first step towards establishing the aerospace command.

Subsequently, the government of India established the Defence Space Agency and the Defence Space Research Organisation in 2019.

The Defence Space Agency is a tri-service command —Army, Navy, and Air Force—responsible for space warfare, including Anti-Satellite weapon System capabilities and satellite intelligence. It is also responsible for developing strategies to protect India’s assets and interests in space.

The Defence Space Research Organisation works under the Defence Space Agency. It is responsible for developing space warfare weapon systems and associated technologies and implementing civilian space technologies for defence. 

Mission Shakti 

DRDO launched Mission Shakti to destroy hostile space-based assets—satellites of an enemy country—in case of war. The first test under Mission Shakti was conducted on 27 March 2019, when an indigenously developed missile system destroyed a satellite in space. India is one of a select few countries in the world, along with the United States, Russia, and China, that has demonstrated this capability.