Reviews the history and development of India’s space program, analyzes the capabilities of its space assets, and examines their political, economic, and geostrategic aspects. In the thirty-year period since its inception in the 1960’s, India’s space capability has progressed gradually from launching light scientific payloads into low orbits, to being able to launch more useful remote-sensing (reconnaissance) satellites to mid-altitude orbits. India will soon have the capacity to launch even heavier communications satellites to higher geostationary orbits (GEO). India’s space program is thus emerging out of its developing stages and stands poised to join the ranks of a select group of states that can not only build but launch their own satellites to GEO. Influenced by changing political and economic circumstances, India’s space assets have found varying applications – they have been utilized for socioeconomic development and to fulfill political objectives, and have produced military spin-offs and commercial applications.
