Space Technology

China's space programme is not only an attempt to demonstrate technological or military superiority, but is aimed at achieving great power status.

• Ajey Lele , Gunjan Singh
• January 20, 2012
• Issue Brief

Instead of decrying the edge China has achieved over India, it is important to critically evaluate the actual benefits that accrue from manned space flights and the Space Station.

• Ajey Lele , Gunjan Singh
• January 12, 2012
• IDSA Comments

China’s development of a space station is not only for the purpose of scientific experimentation but also to showcase its technological and economic strength.

• Ajey Lele
• October 07, 2011
• IDSA Comments

The larger issue which the GSAT-12 launch brings to the fore is that of the mounting demand for satellite transponders and India’s capabilities in this regard.

• Ajey Lele
• July 19, 2011
• IDSA Comments

The US is stopping the shuttle programme by design and not for want of technology or money; nor does discontinuing the space shuttle indicate that the US has lost the space race.

• Ajey Lele
• July 13, 2011
• IDSA Comments

While the GSAT-8 has been successfully launched, the future of the GSLV programme continues to be under a cloud after the twin failures in 2010.

• Ajey Lele
• May 25, 2011
• IDSA Comments

With the successful sixteenth flight of the PSLV-C16, the “feel good” factor has returned to ISRO which was buffeted by failures and controversy over the last year.

• Ajey Lele
• April 25, 2011
• IDSA Comments

On the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s space flight, the space scenario appears to be at a crossroads. Because of the economic and other geopolitical compulsions, major powers are found trading cautiously.

• Ajey Lele
• April 20, 2011
• IDSA Comments

The 21st century may not hold the same strategic logic of the 1960s and 1970s towards discovering outer space. Over a period of time, particularly after the end of the Cold War, space appears to have lost some, if not all, of its strategic significance. During 2004, the then US president, George W. Bush, had argued that the 21st century moon exploration initiative by the US should be viewed as part of a journey and not a race. Mostly, the peaceful voyage of global activities in space got a jolt when China conducted an anti-satellite test (ASAT) during January 2007.

• Ajey Lele
• January 2011
• Strategic Analysis

Let's face the facts: we are not going to regulate our way out of either climate change, or a peaking of fossil fuels. Even if we could imagine that individuals and nations were capable of accepting significant reductions in their lifestyle for long-term self-interest or the interests of their grandchildren, no amount of increased efficiency of those already using energy is going to make up for the Other Three Billion (O3B) citizens of the world moving to developed lifestyles and their accompanying energy demand.

• Peter Garretson
• November 2010
• Strategic Analysis