More than a year after India and Pakistan stepped back from the brink following Operation Sindoor, a quieter strategic contest is unfolding hundreds of kilometres above Earth.
Pakistan, with extensive Chinese support, has rapidly expanded its space-based surveillance capabilities, launching six Earth-observation satellites in just 16 months and creating a constellation capable of regularly monitoring Indian territory.
The sudden pace of development marks a dramatic departure from Pakistan’s traditionally slow-moving space programme.
Since the establishment of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) in 1961, Pakistan has launched only a handful of satellites over several decades. Yet between January 2025 and April 2026, it deployed six new Earth-observation satellites, including optical imaging, hyperspectral and remote-sensing platforms.
Interestingly, the launches began before the Pahalgam attack and the Operation Sindoor retaliation launched by India.
Experts say the significance lies not merely in the number of satellites but in what they can do collectively.
“The constellation that has emerged from this sixteen-month burst is not a civilian earth observation system that happens to have military applications on the side. Its orbital architecture, its sensor complement, and above all its institutional provenance tell a different and more consequential story,” Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, former flag officer, Indian Navy, said in a blog post analysing the recent spate of launches.
The constellation includes satellites capable of capturing high-resolution imagery, identifying changes on the ground, detecting camouflaged objects and conducting persistent surveillance over areas of strategic interest, as reported by The Print.
Pakistan’s hyperspectral satellite HS-1, launched in October 2025, can distinguish between different materials and identify objects that may escape conventional optical sensors. Meanwhile, newer satellites such as PRSC-EO2 and PRSC-EO3 incorporate advanced imaging and AI-assisted data processing capabilities.
Much of this progress has been enabled by China. Several of the satellites were launched aboard Chinese rockets, while others were developed through collaborations between Pakistani and Chinese entities. Analysts believe the partnership extends beyond launch services to include technology transfer, satellite design and data-sharing arrangements.
A particularly notable case is PRSC-EO3, launched in April 2026. Independent analysis by US-based space situational awareness firm COMSPOC suggested the satellite was placed in an orbit optimised for repeated observations over South Asia rather than global coverage. Such an orbit allows more frequent passes over Pakistan and northern India, including Jammu and Kashmir, potentially enabling multiple observations each day.
Space and defence experts argue that this emerging surveillance architecture could provide Pakistan with a much clearer picture of military deployments, infrastructure development and strategic activity across the region.
Combined with China’s own sophisticated Earth observation networks, including the Yaogan and Gaofen satellite series, the system could significantly enhance Islamabad’s intelligence-gathering capabilities.
WHY THIS IS CONCERNING FOR ISRO AND INDIA
The development comes at a sensitive time for India.
In the past two years, ISRO has faced setbacks involving several strategic satellite missions, including failures affecting Earth-observation and navigation programmes.
Some analysts warn that while India remains a far more advanced space power overall, the country’s strategic focus must keep pace with rapidly evolving military-space capabilities in the neighbourhood.
For defence planners, the lesson is increasingly clear: future conflicts may be shaped as much by who controls information from space as by the weapons deployed on the ground.
As Pakistan’s orbital footprint expands with Chinese assistance, the competition for dominance in South Asia is steadily moving into space.
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