‘Ukraine War Could See World Divide Into Two Astropolitical Blocs’

NEW DELHI: The war in Ukraine could see the world split into two blocs in the dimension of space, says Chaitanya Giri, consultant to government in space and a specialist in space tech and innovation. In a chat on StratNewsGlobal, he warned that India must tread deftly, seeking to not antagonise any side while pushing forward its own plans for space.

India could tie up with countries such as France that do not want to be camp followers of the US or Russia/China, he said. It also needs to step up the pace of private sector integration into the space domain, because the future requires nimble players that can tap into wells of finance and technology to leverage programmes.

India should also look at getting into the business of building satellites for the OneWeb, where Bharti Airtel is a key player. Currently, Airbus builds them with some contribution from India. This needs to be scaled up.

Tune in for more in this conversation with Chaitanya Giri.