The transformation of India's space policy: from space for development to the pursuit of security and prestige

Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Pillai and Stroikos, Dimitrios ORCID: 0000-0002-1588-1969 (2024) The transformation of India's space policy: from space for development to the pursuit of security and prestige. Space Policy, 69. ISSN 0265-9646

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Abstract

This article explores the transformation of India's space policy from a focus on space for development to the pursuit of security and prestige. India's early space programme was largely defined by a developmental rationale, aimed at addressing socio-economic challenges through space technology and applications. However, in recent years, India's space policy has undergone a significant change, as the country tries to leverage its space capabilities for strategic objectives, including enhancing its national security, achieving greater status in the global space order, and projecting its great power aspirations. This article offers a comprehensive overview of India's space programme by highlighting the country's high-profile exploration projects, the involvement of the private sector, and the use of space technology as a foreign policy tool and a source of soft power. It also analyses changing perceptions of the country's strategic environment and evolving geopolitical dynamics that have resulted in a reorientation towards the military uses of space. It also assesses the implications of this transformation for India's space programme, its relations with other space actors, and the global governance of outer space.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/space-policy
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Authors
Divisions:	International Relations IGA: LSE IDEAS
Subjects:	J Political Science
Date Deposited:	15 May 2024 10:21
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2024 12:27
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/123449

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