Abstract
Space, the Final Frontier, has become a key area for developmental cooperation within India’s international engagement. The benefits of space-based assets, in terms of services and as an attribute to the national power, have the potential to revolutionize nearly every facet of society, from agriculture to resource extraction and from telecommunication to banking. Most of the states which fall under the category of great powers and emerging powers have acquired most of the space capabilities – from satellite manufacturing to launch capabilities. They have been harnessing this potential and have benefitted greatly. Governments have acknowledged these benefits and enacted policies that facilitate access to space and continued utilization of space-based services which provide national benefit. Given all four Indo-pacific powers i.e., the US, India, Japan and Australia, being space-faring nations and having a mutual interest in ensuring the security and stability of the global commons, there’s wide scope for the Quad to explore opportunities in the Space sector for taking forward the Spirit of Quad. This paper provides an assessment of existing space cooperation, from an Indian perspective and attempts to identify the prospects for space engagement within the Quad.
Keywords: Quad, Space Cooperation, Indo-pacific, USA, India, Australia, Japan
Introduction
Space, the Final Frontier, has become a key area for developmental cooperation within India’s international engagement. The benefits of space-based assets, in terms of services and as an attribute to the national power, have the potential to revolutionize nearly every facet of society, from agriculture to resource extraction and from telecommunication to banking. Most of the states which fall under the category of great powers and emerging powers have acquired most of the space capabilities- from satellite manufacturing to launch capabilities. They have been harnessing this potential and have benefitted greatly. Governments have acknowledged these benefits and enacted policies that facilitate access to space and continued utilization of space-based services which fulfils national interest. Given all four countries i.e., the US, India, Japan and Australia, being space powers and having a mutual interest in ensuring the security and stability of the global commons, there’s wide scope for the Quad to explore opportunities in the Space sector for taking forward the Spirit of Quad.
Looking from an Indian perspective, Quad still can be seen as an opportunity to explore avenues for space cooperation. India’s engagement within Quad can be seen to follow different approaches as the grouping consists of four members with distinctive types of space powers. India’s bilateral space engagement with these members can be viewed under two categories: Engagement with the great power US and with the emerging powers- Japan and Australia.
Engagement with the US
The engagement between India and the US has a comprehensive nature, consisting of civilian as well as strategic components. The two Quad members have explored a wide range of cooperation in the civilian as well as strategic domain. India and the US are already engaged in a Space Security Dialogue since 2015, which was the first-ever space dialogue for India with another country. The joint statement of the third iteration of ‘India-US two plus two strategic dialogue’ held in October 2020, involved the discussion on the consequential cooperation in Space, where the two countries also signed the long-awaited Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). The agreement would enable the two countries to exchange geospatial data and information which will be of strategic significance for both parties.
Earlier rounds of the dialogue had resulted in the signing of the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which is the India specified version of the Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). COMCASA allows India to procure the transfer of specialised equipment for encrypted communications for the US origin military platforms such as the C-17, C-130 and P-8Is. Though, as of now, these platforms have been utilizing the commercially available communication systems, COMCASA enables a greater communications interoperability between the militaries of India and the US The data acquired through such systems cannot be disclosed or transferred to anyone without India’s consent, which represents the increased reciprocity and strategic parity between the two powers.
India and the US have also decided to work together in the broader field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA), during the third iteration of the 2+2 dialogue. SSA is a specific domain, essential for ensuring the sustainable, safe and secure use of outer space. With the growing number of space activities and challenges posed due to active and passive Anti-Satellite (ASAT) capabilities, the operators need to remain watchful of their legal obligations, which include the liability, ownership and control of the space-based objects, hence adding to the significance of SSA for mitigating these challenges through cooperation.
Amongst the recent engagements between India and the US, the NASA-ISRO SAR mission (NISAR) can be considered as a milestone in the civilian space cooperation domain. NISAR will be the first satellite mission to use two different radar frequencies i.e., L-band and S-band1, to measure the changes in Earth’s surface less than a centimetre across. Announced in 2014, the mission was born from a survey by the National Academy of Science (2007) which apprised the priorities in the area of earth observation for the decade. NISAR satellite will be capable of observing the Earth’s ice and land covered surfaces on a global scale with a 12-day periodicity on ascending and descending passes, capable of sampling Earth on an average every six days, with a baseline mission duration of three years. This collaboration was the outcome of ISRO and NASA’s deliberations on a joint radar mission, where ISRO decided to join the project with its own complementary objectives, that include: Agricultural monitoring and characterization, studies of landslides, Himalayan glaciers, soil moisture, coastal processes and coastal winds, and also monitoring hazards.2
To prepare for NISAR, NASA and ISRO are collecting and analyzing L-band and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery with ISRO’s Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument which is mounted on NASA’s Gulfstream III aircraft. Set to launch in late 2022 or early 2023, the NISAR will reportedly be the world’s most expensive imaging satellite. ISRO will be spending around US$110 million whereas NASA has poured a handsome amount of US$808 million on this mission.
Other than these, ISRO and NASA are also working for an implementing arrangement to carry NASA’s Laser Reflectometer Array (LRA) in Chandrayaan-3. The two agencies have also established a Joint Working Group on Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP) for exploring collaboration opportunities.
Engagement with Australia and Japan
In February 2021, K. Sivan, the Chairman of ISRO, held a meeting with his Australian counterpart, Enrico Palermo, the head of the Australian Space Agency (ASA). An amendment of the ‘2012 India-Australia Intergovernmental MoU for Cooperation in the Civilian Space Science Technology and Education’ was signed between the two countries, where India’s Department of Space (DoS) and Australia’s ASA will be the executive organizations. ISRO and ASA also reviewed the status of the ongoing cooperation activities in Earth Observation, satellite navigation, SSA and also regarding the establishment of a transportable terminal in Australia to support India’s Gaganyaan programme.3
On 13th April 2021, the foreign ministers of India and France held extensive talks covering several aspects of the bilateral strategic ties as well as regional and global challenges where they explored ways to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, including under an India-France-Australia trilateral mechanism to address the emerging challenges in the maritime and space domains.4
On 11th March 2021, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan held a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Dr Hiroshi Yamakawa, the president of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), where they reviewed cooperation in earth observation, lunar cooperation and satellite navigation, and also agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in “space situational awareness and professional exchange programme”.
India and Japan have been committed to developing a joint polar lunar mission (LUPEX) to explore the Moon’s South Pole which is set to launch by 2024.5 The mission aims at improving the technology needed to explore the surface of low-gravity celestial bodies to support future lunar activities. These advancements include technology for mobility, lunar night survival and mining excavation. The launcher and rover are to be developed by Japan and the lander system will be developed by India.6 LUPEX received a boost as Japan reportedly earmarked USD 26 million (2.8 billion Yen) for the project in the fiscal year 2021. The mission will use a lunar features-matching algorithm along with navigational equipment from JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon mission, and the rover will carry instruments from both the space agencies.7 The two space agencies also signed implementing arrangements for collaborative activities on rice crop area and air quality monitoring using satellite data.8
Way Ahead
At the October 2020 Tokyo foreign ministers’ meeting, then US secretary of state Mike Pompeo stated that the Quad was composed of “vibrant and pluralistic democracies with shared values”. When the liberalism in the international norms for outer space have been at stake and the militarization and weaponization of space will be a real issue soon, achieving ‘a sustainable space’ with ‘equality in access to space for all will be a key concern for any state.9
As identified by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), establishing “space dominance” (zhitianquan; 制天权) area major element of establishing “information dominance” (zhixinxiquan; 制信息权), which is vital for winning future wars.10,11 From a strategic perspective, Outer Space will remain an area of growing concern for the four Quad members, in the decades to come. Data acquired from the space-based systems will be vital for efficient and effective defence planning, as the Chinese assertion in the Indo-pacific poses a major challenge to the freedom of navigation through the Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs).
During the first historic meeting of the Quad leaders, held in March 2021, the member states planned to establish a series of working groups that focuses on climate change, critical and emerging technologies which include norm-setting and establishing standards as well as the development of critical technologies of the future. The agenda also had an emphasis on a range of security issues, including China’s growing presence in the Indo-pacific.
Space, as part of the global commons, is a precious frontier that will allow the continued advancement of mankind. It is an arena in which international cooperation has also become a necessity. As the former US President Obama once said, “what was once a global competition has long since become a global collaboration.”12 As of now, the cooperation between India and the other Quad states has been chiefly bilateral. There have been significant steps taken by India as well as the US, Japan and Australia for exploring more opportunities for collaboration in the Civilian Space sector. Quad states, with a deepened cooperation in SSA and space debris mitigation, can look forward to pursuing the adoption of UN Resolution 75/36 seeks to establish new ‘norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours’ that reduce the ‘risks of misunderstanding and miscalculations for outer space.13
Exploration of multilateral opportunities for cooperation within Quad on the common areas like Earth Observation and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management can help the four countries avoid the duplication of resources and bring a homogeneity in the implementation of high technology and information exchange. This parity, in the use of technology and to-and-fro data transfer, will pave the way for the four countries for making a unanimous effort for future debates on norm-setting and the code of conduct for outer space.
Quad can be a platform where the members can cooperate on the development of a ‘resilient space architecture’ where a sense of urgency is necessary for translating the political will into an institutional structure, to catch up with the advances in China’s Belt and Road Space Information Corridor14, as it has been rapidly enhancing its capabilities with a comprehensive project which not only provides an innovative way of expanding its technological footprint but also aims at realizing the co-construction and sharing of space information within the Asia-Pacific region. China aims to leverage a “four-in-one” space information service, across the Belt and Road countries, which integrates sensing, transmission and use of geospatial information. If established successfully, this service will be responsible for determining the China-centric regional space security architecture and such advancement will surely hinder the policy coordination and construction and service cooperation for the rest of the established regional space powers, hence eventually leading to a China prompted code of conduct and norm-setting for the use of outer space.
Quad undoubtedly provides a platform for the four Indo-pacific space powers to share their high technologies for converging their security interest within the region. The multilateral and bilateral space cooperation can not only act as the efficient means of promoting Space as a global common but also will facilitate the emerging space powers like India, Japan and Australia to hold larger stakes, therefore, set an example by establishing a positive-sum game within the global space race. Quad provides an assured opportunity to these Indo-pacific democracies to showcase a new pattern for space diplomacy by leveraging their individual expertise and high technologies and can act as a tool for attaining a peaceful and stable outer space. However, we need to wait and watch- how resolved the Quad countries are to give away their individually attained preeminence in the Final Frontier to improve relations on the Earth.
References
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7. Ibid
8. Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman, ISRO/Secretary, DOS Had a Meeting with the President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.” ISRO, Government of India, 11 Mar. 2021, isro.gov.in/update/11-mar-2021/dr-k-sivan-chairman-isro-secretary-dos-had-meeting-with-president-of-japan.
9. Wyeth, Grant. “Is the Quad Bound by Values or Interests?” The Diplomat, The Diplomat, 19 Oct. 2020, thediplomat.com/2020/10/is-the-quad-bound-by-values-or-interests/
10. Cheng, Dean. “A ‘World-Class’ Military: Assessing China’s Global Military Ambitions.” https://www.hsdl.org/?View&Did=826699, Homeland Security Digital Library, 20 June 2019, hsdl.org/?view&did=826699.
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13. Reducing Space Threats through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours :” United Nations, United Nations, 16 Dec. 2020, digitallibrary.un.org/record/3895440?ln=en#record-files-collapse-header.
14. Jiang, Hui. “Programme and Development of the ‘Belt and Road’ Space Information Corridor.” www.unoosa.org, UNOOSA, Apr. 2019, unoosa.org/documents/pdf/psa/activities/2019/UNChinaSymSDGs/Presentations/Programme_and_Development_of_the_Belt_and_Road_Space_Information_Corridor_V5.1.pdf.
