1 2021 (October-December) INDO-US COOPERATION IN SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: A NECESSITY these was the agreement between the leaders to work towards the finalisation of a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will help in sharing of space object data and services towards ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities.1 Though India and US have h. [...] The immediate necessity of possessing adequate SSA was felt around the time of India’s ASAT test of 2019, when it was realised that having visibility in a small segment of space was not adequate and there was a need for a wider space picture to have comprehensive space security. [...] For knowledge of the space environment and other objects in the vicinity of Indian satellites— situational data—India utilises the information provided by Space Surveillance Networks of some global space agencies like ESA and the Russian Space Surveillance System. [...] A new ‘Space Fence’ radar operationalised in 2020 by US is said to have the capability of detecting objects of sizes <10 cm and up to 2-3 cm.5 • Global SSA capabilities have not kept pace with the rapid growth in space traffic—there are gaps in coverage and the space object catalogue maintained by CSpOC is incomplete. [...] However, it is believed that the change in India’s vision for space with a clear shift towards prioritising military space capabilities, the growing satellite inventory and the rising threat to space assets from debris and anti-satellite weapons of adversaries has accelerated a decision on the issue.
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