The metamorphosis of India's space policy in a changing space order

This chapter explores the transformation of India's space policy from a focus on space for development to the pursuit of security and prestige. India's early space program was largely defined by a developmental rationale, aimed at addressing socioeconomic challenges through space technology and applications. However, in recent years, India's space policy has undergone a significant change, as the country tries to leverage its space capabilities for strategic objectives, including enhancing its national security, achieving greater status in the global space order, and projecting its great power aspirations. This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of India's space program by highlighting the country's high-profile exploration projects, the involvement of the private sector, and the use of space technology as a foreign policy tool and a source of soft power. It also analyzes changing perceptions of the country's strategic environment and evolving geopolitical dynamics that have resulted in a reorientation towards the military uses of space. It also assesses the implications of this transformation for India's space program, its relations with other space actors, and the global governance of outer space.