Ajey Lele

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘China’s spaceplane returns: is this a new weapon in their counterspace arsenal?’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 30 May 2023.

Weaponization of a space is a reality. Spaceplanes appears to be a platform capable of launching both kinetic and non-kinetic counterspace missions. With such a platform available, states can demonstrate both deterrence and usability factors in regards to their counterspace agenda, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 30 May, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘From NavIC 1.0 to 2.0, ISRO needs to learn from mistakes’ has been published in Financial Express on 29 May 2023.

NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites for the NavIC constellation and with this launch it could be said that commencing of NavIC 2.0 has begun, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 29 May, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s Issue Brief ‘Beyond China: Exploring Asia's Emergence In Space’ has been published by Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 22 May 2023.

The Issue Brief tries to assess the space race among Asian powers, exploring the geoeconomics, geopolitical, and geostrategic dimensions behind the initiation of space programs in various Asian states and understanding the concept of a space race among them. This paper focuses on assessing Category-2 and Category-3 space programs; therefore, no direct assessment of China's space program is conducted.

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• Published: 22 May, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Kyiv’s hard-kill of Russian Hypersonic Missile’ has been published in Financial Express on 09 May 2023.

From a threat perspective, along with Russia, the US is also concerned about the progress made by China’s hypersonic weapon program, says Gp Captl Lele.

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• Published: 9 May, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s commentary ‘Russia, Ukraine, and the Chemical Conundrum: Exploring the Use of White Phosphorus in Bakhmut’ has been published by the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 09 May 2023.

Russia's interest in Bakhmut stems from its strategic geography, which enables them to disrupt Ukraine's supply lines. Moreover, gaining control over this city provides a gateway for Russian forces to reach several important eastern Ukrainian towns, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 9 May, 2023

Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Why Geoffrey Hinton, the father of Artificial Intelligence (AI) quit Google? has been published in Taaza Khabar News on 03 May 2023.

This father of AI, who has done pioneering work in the field of artificial neural networks now feels that there is a danger to humanity from this technology, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 3 May, 2023

Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘G-20 and Space Economics’ has been published in Financial Express on 19 April 2023.

India is expected to make all attempts to lobby for making Space as a formal element of G-20 discussions, for future, says Gp Cpt Lele.

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• Published: 19 April, 2023

Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Leapfrogging into the Future’ has been published in Raksha Anirveda on 17 April 2023.

ISRO needs to quickly demonstrate to the global customers that the SSLV is fully capable of carrying a payload of 500 kg and putting it safely at an altitude of 500km. The organisation is also required to ensure the operaltionalisation of the proposed second spaceport at Kulasekharapatnam in Tamil Nadu, besides launching heavy satellites into geostationary orbits. This would also help them to establish capability to carry more than 10,000 kgs to LEO, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 17 April, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Indian ASAT: Mission Shakti should be a comma, not a full stop’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 27 March 2023.

It could be said that India’s political objectives, both signaling to adversaries and increasing its relevance on the global stage in the space domain, were achieved with Mission Shakti, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 27 March, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘ISRO Successfully Deorbits Satellite And Walks the Talk on Space Debris’ has been published in Interstellar on 25 March 2023.

The time has come for India to take the lead in undertaking policy initiatives in the space domain towards establishing a global rule-based mechanism. The deorbiting of Megha-Tropiques 1 is a laudable step in that direction, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 25 March, 2023