Article Posted on : - Oct 04, 2011

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Air Force (IAF) has said there was a need for having a tri-service aerospace command to look after the military issues related to space.

"Time has come that we look into the realm of an aerospace command. It would be a joint command where all the three services have to put their hands together," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said.

He was addressing the annual Air Force Day press conference here on Monday.

All the three services have been talking about creating a joint command for management and creation of a space command to tackle military threats and utilising space-based capabilities.

Asked about the status of the dedicated satellite programmes for the IAF, Browne said, "Both the GSAT-7 and GSAT-7A satellites are delayed by a year. That is a delay from the ISRO part."

He said the payload and other systems to be launched with the satellite have been finalised.

On the functioning of the IAF space cell, Browne said the Integrated Defence Staff has come up with a Defence Space Vision and was the point of contact for all the three services.