India-EU Space Ties: How Closer Cooperation Can Boost Earth Observation, Disaster Management

India's launch of EOS-05, its first imaging satellite designed to operate from an orbit synchronised with the Earth, adds an important capability to the country’s space sector, according to an article. "For India, having its own satellites, domestic launch systems, and the ability to schedule its own observations means relying less on foreign providers to understand what is happening over its territory, along its borders and across the Indian Ocean. It is a question of technological sovereignty," stated the article by Javier Villamor in 'Brussels Signal'. It highlights that EOS-05, positioned at an altitude of close to 36,000 kilometres, can keep a much larger region under observation and return to the same area far more frequently.

That makes it possible to monitor cyclones, floods, fires, agriculture, or activity in coastal areas for longer periods. The article underscores that India and the European Union are increasing cooperation in the space sector, though the two sides are pursuing their own goals in an area that has until now been dominated by the US, Russia and, more recently, China. Europe’s space architecture is broader and more diversified. Copernicus combines several Sentinel satellites to observe land, oceans and the atmosphere.

Europe has built a multinational ecosystem capable of combining radar, optical imaging, meteorology and atmospheric measurements. India is moving towards a more concentrated model, aimed at ensuring that as many critical capabilities as possible are available domestically, the article pointed out. "Competition between the two can be beneficial precisely because neither needs to copy the other. India wants to develop launchers, Earth observation, navigation, crewed missions and a future space station.

Europe needs to preserve its own industrial autonomy and its ability to maintain strategic assets without depending on third countries," it said. It also highlights that in December 2024, India launched the European Proba-3 solar observation mission aboard a PSLV-XL rocket. The European Space Agency (ESA) and ISRO have also expanded cooperation in human and robotic exploration, astronaut training, space operations and interoperability. An exchange of letters signed in Paris on September 10 has extended their cooperation framework until January 8, 2032, adding space weather and the sustainability of outer space activities.