Kathmandu, Aug 18. According to a report from Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (APLN), there is growing development of space-based weapons and capabilities of countries in the Asia Pacific.

The report stated, “China, India, and Japan in particular are major space-faring nations with independent capacities to launch into space, and ambitions for space settlement and space resource utilisation.”

The report is prepared by Dr. Namrata Goswami. It highlights India’s anti-satellite ASAT test and has shown India as a competitor for China.

The report further revealed, “India’s military space sector took off after it had to reckon with ‘intelligence failure’ during the Kargil War of 1999 against Pakistan, when Indian agencies failed to pick up intelligence on infiltrators crossing the Himalayan border.”

China has a $8 billion budget for an ambitious space programme and is set to establish a permanent space station by 2022. China also aims to be a world leader in space by 2022. Beijing has been working to strengthen its military beyond earth as back as 2007. The report stated, “China has institutionalised a separate space service with the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Space Force (PLASSF). The PLASSF, for the first time, brings together China’s growing military space assets into a single unit, aimed at dominance across the spectrum of air, space, and cyber.”

Other countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea also have been arming themselves given the growing geo-political developments.