DEFENCE SPACE AGENCY
Air Vice Marshal Pawan Kumar, VM, DG DSA
Air Vice Marshal Pawan Kumar, VM is currently serving as Director General of the Defence Space Agency. In his current assignment, he is handling all aspects related to space exploitation in the military domain by the Indian Defence Forces
AVM Pawan Kumar graduated from National Defence Academy in 1988 and was commissioned as a Fighter Pilot in Indian Air Force in Jun 1989. The Air Officer has more than 3000 hours of accident free flying and has flown Hunters, Jaguars and MIG-27s. He is a Pilot Attack Instructor and a Fighter Strike Leader
The Air Officer has undergone staff course at Defence Services Staff College Wellington, Higher Command Course at College of Air Warfare and the prestigious NDC course. He was Defence Attache to Czech Republic with concurrent accreditation to Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. He also played a major role in various bilateral/ Multilateral Air exercises with US and Singapore
He has been awarded with the Chief of the Air Staff commendation in 1996 and Air Officer Commanding in Chief commendation in 2004. In recognition of his distinguished service, the Air Officer was awarded with the Vayu Sena Medal in 2009
He is married to Mrs Bharti Gupta, and they are blessed with two children. The elder daughter is an Electronics Engineer while son has completed his Law from a National Law University
About Us
The Defence Space Agency (DSA) is an integrated tri-services agency of the Indian Armed Forces headquartered in Delhi, India. The agency is tasked with operating the space-warfare and Satellite Intelligence assets of India. The DSA draws personnel from all three branches of the Armed Forces. The agency is expected to be converted into a full-sized tri-service military command in the future.
Brief History
The Naresh Chandra Task Force was set up in July 2011 by Govt. of India to review the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee, assess its implementation and further suggest new reforms related to national security. The committee submitted its classified report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 23 May 2012. The DSA is a downsized implementation of this proposal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the creation of Defence Space Agency (DSA) during the Combined Commanders' Conference at Jodhpur Air Force Station on 28 September 2018. Subsequently, DSA was raised as a strategic tri-service organization at Bengaluru, under HQ IDS. In April 2022, DSA was shifted to New Delhi, however its R&D and QRM Directorate continues to function from Bangalore. DSA has two operational units under its functional control - Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre (DIPAC) in Delhi and Defence Satellite Control Centre (DSCC) in Bhopal.
Roles & Mission
The role of DSA is to develop military space and ground systems to protect Indian interests in outer space and also devise strategy to deal with potential space wars. The agency is responsible for developing a space warfare strategy for the country.
Organisation
The headquarters of the DSA is in Delhi and its R&D and QRM Directorate continues to function from Bangalore. It functions under the HQ Integrated Defence Staff. Personnel from all the three branches of the Indian Armed Forces are posted in the agency. DSA has two operational units under its functional control – DIPAC, New Delhi and DSCC, Bhopal.
Our Achievement
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IndSpaceEx India conducted its first simulated space warfare exercise on 25th and 26 July 2019, called IndSpaceEx. The exercise was conducted under the supervision of Integrated Defence Staff. The exercise was aimed at obtaining an assessment of threats and the creation of a joint space warfare doctrine.
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Antariksh Abhyas The first edition of the exercise was conducted from 11 to 13 November 2024 by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff. Various keynote addresses wrt Space based assets, threats evaluation, recommended counter measures, space cybersecurity and space laws were delivered by notable speakers.
