New Delhi: Defense and military experts on Wednesday intensified strategic dialogue on building India’s enduring and resilient defense space capabilities against the backdrop of rapid transformation of global space-based military infrastructure on the second day of the DefSat2026 conference in New Delhi. With 1,602 space-based ISR satellites expected to be launched globally between 2025 and 2030, the industry is entering a stage of operational maturity, moving from sporadic expansion to predictable, proliferating constellations designed to enable continuous coverage, rapid revisits and real-time analysis. Discussions at the conference emphasized that persistent space capabilities are no longer an aspiration but a foundation for national security.SIA-India President Subba Rao Pavuluri set the tone for the day’s proceedings at the Manekshaw Centre: “India is at a decisive turning point. Scale without coordination is aspiration; scale with coordination becomes capability. As we move towards Aatmanirbharta and aspire to be the Vishwaguru of space, alignment of goals across government, industry and the armed forces will determine our strategic success.”The second day of the conference also witnessed tangible B2B activity, demonstrating the growing confidence of private players in the defense space ecosystem. Six MoU exchanges with Safran and Geminus Space; TakeMe2Space and Little Place Labs; RedBalloon Aerospace with EON Space, Sanyark, Raudrane and Andurax.The purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding between Safran and Geminus Space is to solve the challenges associated with large-scale operations of ground systems by integrating Safran Data Systems’ ground equipment systems (such as antennas, communication modems and signal processing units) with the Geminus Unified Ground Operations Platform.Major General Neeraj Shukla, Director General of Strategic Planning of the Indian Army, emphasized India’s responsible and civilized approach to space: “We are a responsible nation. Our attitude towards space must reflect the ethos of our civilization – ‘Doham Karma Sansadhanam Na Kadapi Shoshanam, Lok Hite Bhutanam Sarakshanam Pratham’ – which means responsible utilization of resources rather than exploitation for the benefit and protection of all living beings.” Space is not only for defensive advantage, but also for sustaining the civilization we are sworn to protect. “He further said that national security can no longer be viewed solely from a military perspective but reflects the collective strength of diplomacy, information, military capabilities, economic resilience, political leadership and indigenous technology. With artificial intelligence, quantum technology, cyber capabilities and
