India Building A Military Satellite Reconnaissance System

Resourcesat-1 India is building up a satellite-based Military Surveillance and Reconnaissance System that will become operational by 2007, allowing it to keep watch on developments in its area. “The program is in the advanced stages of development and is planned to be operational by 2007,” Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Parliament recently. The system was to be operational by 2005, but the defense minister said validation of technologies had taken more time than anticipated. While India’s procurement system has a reputation for being very risk-averse and missing deadlines most of the time, this sort of issue is not uncommon in American satellite programs either. India has not launched any explicitly military satellites to date and the government remains tight-lipped, but experts believe the country has several options… Civilian Stealth First off, it’s important to note that these developments are not entirely a surprise. An Indian government adviser hinted in 2002 at a new military satellite in the early stages of development, to be built by Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from the launch facilitaites in French Guyana or Sritharikota Island. At the time, sources in ISRO noted that […]