INDIA TO ADOPT SPACE LAWS

As you might have guessed, space continues to be in the news in a quiet way, and one of the more interesting stories I read this week was shared my Mr. K.B. in India, about India's new space program director, and its plans to create space laws. This is a story with some long term geopolitical implications, which are hinted at in the article:

ISRO Chairman: New Space roadmap soon, but tackling the backlog comes first

Now there are two parts to this article where I think there are some profound geopolitical implications, if one views them in the wider context of geopolitics and economics today. Here's the first set of statements:

What is the big picture that you see for ISRO, say by 2025 and beyond?

We should firm up our newer geostationary launch vehicle technology activities. R&D is going on for the semi-cryogenic engine to lift much heavier payloads.

It would obviously be about improving communication capability, transponder availability. We plan to bring in a high-throughput Ka-band satellite. A suggestion is to work with international [partners]. The [four-tonne] GSAT-11 would be our parallel approach.

We would also use two GSLV MkIII flights, of December 2016 and 2017, to demonstrate next-generation satellite technologies.(Boldface emphasis added)

Then, a little further on, we read this:

How do you view the future societal role of Space?

Though there are other significant [land-based] efforts, linking remote places will be possible only through the Space segment. There is a big [Digital India] plan for enabling people down to the gram panchayat level in 250,000 villages with digital data of 20 mbps. About 20,000 villages are difficult to reach.

As the provider of the Space infrastructure, we would have a significant role in this plan, starting with a connectivity of 2 mbps. We are doing trials now in the North East. It could be for tele-medicine, tele-education, banking, village resource information or local phone connections.

So what is the geopolitical implication here? Well, first, there is the implication that areas of India are still not connected adequately to the internet, and obviously, Mr. Kumar sees space based connectivity as the solution. But in the first quotation, Mr. Kumar also is suggesting an expansion of India's "transponder availability" and working with "international partners".  What this suggests is that India is tayloring aspects of its space program to a drastic improvement of its space-based communications capabilities, not only into remote areas of the country, but also in conjunction with its BRICSA bloc partners. The underlying, and in my opinion, hidden aspect of this story, in other words, is that India, a major partner not only in the BRICS development bank but, along with China and Russia, a major partner in China's Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, will play a role in any parallel international financial clearing mechanism as may eventually emerge from the BRICS bloc.

Now, with that in mind, consider these highly suggestive remarks by Mr. Kumar at the very end of the article:

ISRO is now working on a Space law.

Enacting a full-fledged Space Law has become a requirement as more and more private enterprises enter this business. It will clarify many existing issues and resolve certain ambiguities.

A draft has been circulated [to experts] and we hope to submit it to the government by the end of the year.

What is the status of the arbitrations in the Antrix-Devas contract case? Was it a trigger for the law?

The arbitration cases are going on. It is a long drawn out process with a binding on time. They have to give a verdict.

Not quite a trigger. Space is being used more and more for non-civil activities. The law should ensure Space is not misused. Who will be liable if private launches happen and all kinds of objects are put in space? These activities will have to be spelt out while enabling commercial opportunities.

In other words, like the USA, India is pursuing the unilateral legislative process of creating space law to cover its space assets. Certainly this is a prudent step for its domestic investments, but it must also be viewed as a geopolitical step, asserting the right that India means to have a seat at the table when the time comes to create an international body of law to cover space assets and conflicts. New Delhi is serving notice to Washington that American law will not be the single voice in space matters. Expect that Russia, China, and Europe will follow suit, and do so quickly. India's space law also means something else, and I've said it before: with the commercialization of space will come the inevitable need to protect those assets, and that means the militarization and weaponization of space. This means that for India, just as for every other space power, there will be a hidden, secret aspect of their program, that they simply are not going to talk about.

See you on the flip side.

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Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

8 Comments

  1. goshawks on July 7, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    As I read Joseph’s article, two thoughts popped up:

    First, could India be positioning itself for the physical “UN” of the BRICSA ? It is in the position of being relatively powerful, but not known for military actions. That might make it attractive to members as a gathering-place…

    Second, I had not thought of the private launcher companies as great ‘cover’ for launching space-based weaponry and such. Some Senator can walk into NASA and ask questions about certain payloads. NASA may or may-not answer, but the ‘fencing’ dialogue is in public records. A private company can simply say, “Sorry; proprietary.” It ends there. Good cover…



  2. 8thdegreeofj on July 7, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    Considering that Mars appears to have been the victim of an interplanetary war which directly implies that space was used for military purposes; there are no guarantees that anyone’s space laws are unbreakable, galactic or Earth-based.

    I tend to view these developments as a tug-o-war of ideologies based on what various (and opposing) groups of humans have learned from off-world sources and on-world sources (of ancient history).

    Should we be surprised that the only culture in the world to have a rich detailed history of flying Vimana’s and devastating wars involving want to have a ‘say’ in space laws? You can bet that in the back rooms of the Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha that they are highly concerned with the prospect of repeating history. And considering that India & China are the most populous places on the planet, and TPTB want 95% population reduction…

    For the same reasons that London & Washington don’t want the AIB to succeed but at the same time are founding members to keep an eye on it, India for sure wants ‘in’ on the beginnings of a rise in new space laws in this epoch.



  3. Avenkat on July 7, 2015 at 9:12 am

    I seem to recall and, perhaps, on this blog the idea or move by India to back up China and Russia if the West goes pop and starts some kind of war against Russia or China. We all know more is going on in space than we have been led to believe. Why did NASA send up a missile to the moon to bomb it? What are they hiding on the moon? I think we will see more info coming out about space law very soon.



  4. Robert Barricklow on July 6, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    As far as the “West” is concerned the U.S., England, Canada, Australia, etc., are all weakened “public” nation states under the boot of private/corporate rule. So “Space” is , in essence, a “private” transnational oligarchical venture to own “space”, as they own the nation states, and their respective subjects[so-called citizens]. The BRICS; however, are pooling their Nation-State resources to be a counter-force and extent the infrastructure to law under an international “public” umbrella w/private interest being under it’s thumb. Where the privatized West is putting space under a private law w/absolutely no elected representative from any nation; as they are doing on Earth currently in the TPP/TTIP transnational corporate constitution that renders any constitution obsolete[like the U.S. Constitution].

    So it’s really hard to side w/the unrepresented, unaccountable West’s version of a Privatized Space.

    It’s hell on Earth.

    And “they” want the heavens brought down a notch or to…

    In reality, “they’ want to buy the heavens, for a penny or two.



  5. Aridzonan_13 on July 6, 2015 at 11:06 am

    India is making a bold move. I wonder if they sense a chink in the AngloSphere’s armor and like China are making geopolitical moves to take advantage of the Empire’s retreat. IF indeed our space presence provokes an Off World response visible to the inhabitants of Planet Earth: THEN the Anglosphere has the most to lose. Can’t wait, no matter the consequences.



  6. marcos toledo on July 6, 2015 at 9:40 am

    So India wants some law and order in space while the West wants to play Pirates of the Caribbean. Age of pillage, rapine, and murder so much for the West mantra of the Rule of Law and Civilization. By the way what’s your take on Varoufakis resignation after the Greek NO vote on EURO and EU health reason surrounding his and his family dodging IMF and CIA hit teams.



  7. Centauri on July 6, 2015 at 8:00 am

    Just wait until these various earth-based factions working in the dark get out there and find that lines have been drawn and laws have been written already. Like…. scores of millenia ago.
    No earth-based commercialization or militarization will even be possible; that’s the silliest part about all this posturing. What is actually inevitable will be hilarious to watch. Can’t wait!



  8. DanaThomas on July 6, 2015 at 5:16 am

    I believe that Edinburgh was one of the first places where space law entered student currculum.



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