India
and Russia are
expected to take their cooperation in the field of space to a new high later
this month and a couple of key new agreements are likely to be signed between
the two sides when Vladimir Putin visits India.
A major area of opportunity for the two sides to take their
cooperation in the fields of space and science and technology further would be
GLONASS. The Russians have recently opened a huge door for India
when Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced his country’s
willingness to offer India
joint participation in development of its GLONASS satellite navigation system
on an equal basis. This was the first time when Russia
made such an offer to India.
“We have offered our Indian counterparts not only use of the GLONASS system but
also participation in upgrading it. We practically see it as a joint effort. I
think our Indian counterparts will be interested in it,” Rogozin, who has been
given special responsibility for Russia's
military-industrial complex, went on record as saying.
The Indians are understandably enthused by the Russian
large-heartedness. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai alluded to this in his major
speech in New Delhi on November 22, 2012 when he said:
“Access to the whole spectrum of GLONASS signals by Indian agencies is a major
component of the Indo-Russian space cooperation. This is matched by robust
cooperation on important projects like Chandrayan 2, the Human Space Flight and
YOUTHSAT.”
Importance of GLONASS for India
GLONASS, an acronym for Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya
Sputnikovaya Sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, offers India
a very important strategic leverage with a vast array of applications in
civilian and military spheres. GLONASS, a radio-based satellite navigation
system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Aerospace Defence
Forces, is a valuable alternative to the US-controlled Global Positioning
System (GPS).
In December 2011, India
and Russia had
signed an agreement for receiving precision signals from GLONASS, which will
allow missiles, including those fired from nuclear submarine Chakra, to strike
within half a meter of distant targets. GLONASS is the only alternative
navigational system in operation with global coverage and of comparable precision.
Space is one important sector of Indo-Russian bilateral
cooperation where the Indians would be looking forward to working closely with Russia
to push some major investment projects during Putin’s upcoming India
visit. India is
well aware that some Indo-Russian investment episodes in other fields have been
mired in controversies and been log-jammed, but the space-related agreements in
the pipeline would compensate for glitches in the past.
Russia’s Most Expensive Space Programme
GLONASS is not just a project but also a powerful statement
of Indo-Russian synergies. It is the most expensive program of the Russian
Federal Space Agency, consuming a third of its budget in 2010. The Russian
gesture of inviting India
with open arms for this project points to the high orbit the Russians have
placed India
in.
GLONASS is a Soviet era project that began in 1976. From
October 1982 onwards numerous rocket launches added satellites to the system
until the ‘constellation’ was completed in 1995. GLONASS achieved 100 percent
coverage of Russian territory by 2010. The GLONASS project achieved a major
milestone in October 2011 when the full orbital constellation of 24 satellites
was restored, enabling full global coverage.
India
to Invest Close to $3 Billion in Space by 2017
The expanding Indo-Russian cooperation in space would not
have come at a more opportune time as India
has a busy calendar for the next five years which would require an investment
of almost three billion dollars.
India’s
flagship space agency Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has plans to
launch its first manned space flight in 2017. The Indians are also eyeing deep
space missions to be topped by lunar human landing, possibly by 2020. India’s
space budget would be enormous by 2020. The maiden manned space flight of India
would ensure that India
arrives on the global stage in a big way, having a significant edge over
several developed countries.
ISRO’s ambitious programmes include the setting up of
several ground facilities like launch pads, the mission control centre,
astronaut training centre, all permanent assets on the ground including what
goes into the orbit. India
and Russia have
collaborated on technologies in the space sector which can integrate into
platforms that India
is developing.
India
could not have made such deep forays into space without the Russian
cooperation. It was the erstwhile Soviet Union that had
launched first Indian satellites - Aryabhatta and Bhaskara from its Baikonur
cosmodrome – in the seventies and eighties. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian
astronaut, travelled to the Soviet Salyut-7 space station in 1984.
The half a century old Indian space programme is now poised
for a major leap as it has seamlessly moved beyond practical applications-based
thrust to deeper and technologically far more difficult newer areas like
India’s first lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1), navigation and joint ventures in
space science. Space and Technology is one of the major arenas where India
and Russia
share a long standing and successful cooperation. Both the countries actively
participate together in many fields of exploration and peaceful uses of outer
space. Currently it has many operational agreements in the fields of moon
exploration, global navigation system, human space flight and spacecraft
building for atmospheric studies.
The Indian sense is that while the Indo-Russian
collaborating is on the right trajectory there is scope for further
improvement. India
needs to play catch up with other countries who are investing heavily in
research and development. A major challenge is also how to apply these from the
laboratory to the assembly line and use them for the greater public good. In
this context, Mathai has paid rich compliments to the Russian scientists by
remarking thus: “The great record of Russian science (just recall the
extraordinary achievements of the Academicians) makes this a partnership of
great value.”
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