India's defence forces are planning to build an integrated satellite communication grid comprising spacecraft. (Source: macrovector/Freepik)
India is developing a plan to improve its ability to protect satellites from attacks, people familiar with the matter said, after a near miss in orbit highlighted risks to national security posed by other spacecraft.
The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to develop so-called bodyguard satellites to identify and counter threats to orbiting spacecraft, according to people who requested to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter. Satellites also played a significant role during India's conflict with rival Pakistan in May, which put the nations on the brink of all-out war.
A previously unreported incident highlighted the need for action, the people added, when a satellite from a neighboring country came dangerously close to one of India's.
The near miss in mid-2024 involved one of Indian space agency ISRO's satellites orbiting around 500-600 kilometers (311-373 miles) above the Earth, the same part of space that's getting increasingly crowded with communications satellites like Elon Musk's Starlink network.
The spacecraft from a neighboring country, which the people familiar with the matter wouldn't name, came within 1 kilometer of an ISRO satellite performing tasks that could have military applications such as mapping and monitoring of objects on the ground, they said.
Although the two satellites didn't collide, such an unusually close approach was possibly a show of strength that could have been a test to demonstrate the other nation's capabilities, the people said.
ISRO and the Department of Space did not respond to requests for comment.