Announcing its setting up, Antony said while India remains committed to non-weaponisation of space, emergence of offensive counter space systems and anti-satellite weaponry posed new threats which had to be countered. " Offensive counter-space systems like anti-satellite weaponry, new classes of heavy-lift and small boosters and an improved array of military space systems have emerged in our neighbourhood" stressing that these need to be countered. Antony who said it was being established because of " the growing threat" to India's space assets. The formation of an Integrated Space Cell was announced on 10 June 2010 by the former Defence Minister A. This had made it important to work out measures to protect India's space-based assets. Satellites are also essential for civilian purposes such as weather forecasting, disaster management and communications. The armed forces are increasingly depending on satellites for communication, aircraft and missile guidance, reconnaissance and surveillance. Unlike an aerospace command, where the air force controls most of its activities, the Integrated Space Cell envisaged cooperation and coordination between the three services as well as civilian agencies dealing with space. This command leveraged space technology including satellites. It functioned under the Integrated Defense Services headquarters of the Indian Ministry of Defense. The Integrated Space Cell had been set up to utilise more effectively the country's space-based assets for military purposes and to look into threats to these assets. This agency was superseded by Defence Space Agency in 2019. It was to be jointly operated by all the three services of the Indian Armed Forces, the civilian Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Integrated Space Cell was the nodal agency within the Government of India which oversees the security of its space based military and civilian hardware systems.
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