'Vishwa Guru Bharat' to be 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047: Launch and Place the Indian Space Legislation in Appropriate Orbit
- Paper ID
93382
- author
- company
Gujarat National Law University
- country
India
- year
2025
- abstract
It is a paradoxical that the seeds of exploration of outer space for ‘peaceful purposes’ were sown in the heat of cold war in a bipolar world comprising USA and USSR. USSR precipitated it by lunching Sputnik I followed by USA launching Explorer I in response. However, USA demonstrated its space capability decisively by the first successful human lunar landing in 1969. This period also witnessed codification of Space Law at the international level in the form of Outer Space Treaty (OST), Rescue and Return Agreement, Liability Convention, Registration Convention and Moon Agreement. Space Law regarded space as ‘province of all mankind’ under OST and ‘common heritage of mankind’ under the Moon Agreement. Gradually, state centric human space endeavours gave way to the ever-increasing role of private actors. Therefore, international community felt the need and accordingly recommended the adoption of national legislation by states aimed at their authorization as well as supervision in order to fulfil their international obligations under Space Law. Space faring nations adopted different approaches towards developing their space law to encourage and regulate space activities. India was no exception and responded by circulating the Draft ‘Space activities Bill’ in 2017 to promote and regulate the space activities of India with the aim of encouraging private players and thereby boost the space economy. This was done in the backdrop of consciously nurtured Indian space programme ably led by ISRO for peaceful purposes aimed at maximizing the welfare of her people. In order to sustain such programme, specific policies have been developed at various points of time in India as and when need was felt e.g. SATCOM Policy 1997. However, due to various reasons, the whole effort of developing Indian Space legislation has remained shelved till date. Meanwhile, Indian Government rolled out reforms in the Indian space sector by establishing IN-SPACe in 2020. It also came out with an Indian Space Policy in 2023. This paper analyses the different approaches towards developing the Space Law at the domestic level in the backdrop of the existing obligations at the international level. The paper argues for the dire and urgent need of a Space Legislation in India and highlights the essential ingredients thereof. Paper concludes that if India is serious about its role as 'Vishwa Guru' and is committed to implement the ambitious vision of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, developing such a law is a sine qua non.