A first-of-its-kind three-day exercise to war-game the increasing threats from and to space-based assets and services, ‘Antariksha Abhyas – 2024’, is being conducted by the Defence Space Agency of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff from Monday to Wednesday.
“Space, once considered the final frontier, is now the critical enabler of India’s defence and security apparatus. With its rich legacy of space exploration and growing military capabilities, India is well-positioned to navigate the challenges posed to space-based capabilities,” said Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan in his opening address.
Noting that space was becoming increasingly congested, contested, competitive, and commercial, he urged the military leadership to secure India's national interests in space by fostering innovation and developing cutting-edge technologies, in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and academia.
Exercise Antariksha Abhyas is expected to help secure national strategic objectives in space and integrate India’s space capability in military operations. It aims to offer a better understanding of space-based assets and services and to gain an understanding of operational dependency on space segments between stakeholders.
READ MORE: India strikes major defence deal with Russia for lethal Pantsir air defence system
The exercise also aims to identify vulnerabilities in the conduct of operations in the event of denial or disruptions of space-based services.
Personnel from the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, and officials from DRDO and its allied units specialist branches under Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff viz Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency and Strategic Forces Command, representatives from ISRO will be among the participants in the exercise.
