The Indian government has approved spending 14.2 billion rupees ($316 million) to develop an independent regional satellite navigation system that would launch starting in 2008 and reduce the nation's dependence on the GPS system operated by the U.S. Department of Defense.
India joined Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system on Wednesday, becoming the fourth non-EU country to join the program that rivals the U.S. Global Positioning System.
India's Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched the world's first stereographic satellite that will directly generate three-dimensional maps. These have been achievable only indirectly, by combining data from a large number of satellite passes over the same place.
China and India have signed on to support the European Union's Galileo global satellite system in a bid to challenge American supremacy in space.
India is developing a slew of satellites for uses ranging from navigation to tele-medicine but it denies that any of them will be used for spying.
India is on the verge of developing an engine that would enable it to launch high-altitude communications satellites, according to a top space research official. The technology could also be used to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.
India is seeking to restrict the purchase of high-resolution satellite imagery by Indian citizens to protect its national security secrets.
India is preparing to test a heavy-lift rocket for the commercial launching of satellites.