Why in News?

• • India to hold it’s first-ever simulated space warfare exercise in the last week of July, 2019. It has been named – IndSpaceEx.
• • This exercise will basically be a ‘table-top war-game’, with all stakeholders from the
  military and scientific community taking part in it.
• • All military stakeholders, including those from the scientific community, will participate in it.

Objective:

• • Main objective of the exercise is to understand the possible challenges in space warfare and to counter China’s growing influence in this domain, which poses a major threat to India’s national security interest.

IndSpaceEx:

• • India took the first step towards developing a credible counter-space capability under ‘Mission Shakti’ when it launched a 19-tonne interceptor missile to destroy the 740-kg Microsat-R satellite, at an altitude of 283 km in a ‘hit-to-kill mode’ on 27th March, 2019.
• • The purpose of the exercise is to understand the possible challenges in space warfare and to counter China’s growing influence in this domain, which poses a major threat to India’s national security interest.
• • When India tested A-Sat, China started developing military capabilities in space in terms of both kinetic and non-kinetic (lasers, electromagnetic pulse) weapons.
• • IndSpaceEx underlines the seriousness with which India is taking the need to counter likely threats to its space assets from countries like China.

Significance:

• • India took the first step towards developing a credible counter-space capability under ‘Mission Shakti’ when it launched a 19-tonne interceptor missile to destroy the 740-kg Microsat-R satellite, at an altitude of 283 km in a ‘hit-to-kill mode’ on 27th March, 2019.
• • Since then, a new Defence Space Agency has begun to take shape, by amalgamating the Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre (Delhi) and the Defence Satellite Control Centre (Bhopal), with a two-star IAF general to be soon appointed to head it. The agency is expected to eventually grow into a full-fledged Space Command in the years ahead.

Mission Shakti:

• • Mission Shakti is India’s anti-satellite (A-SAT) weapon programme led by DRDO and ISRO. The entire operation of Mission Shakti took just three minutes.
• • The US, Russia, and China already have the A-SAT technology. And India becomes fourth country with this technology. Mission Shakti was carried out from DRDO’s testing range in Odisha’s Balasore.
• • India is only 4th country who acquired such a specialised and modern capability, and Entire effort is indigenous. Till now, only the US, Russia and China had the capability to hit a live target in space.
• • The test was done to verify that India has the capability to safeguard our space assets. It is
  the Government of India’s responsibility to defend the country’s interests in outer space.