BRICS countries have backed greater cooperation in space technology, calling for the peaceful use of outer space, stronger measures to mitigate space debris and steps to prevent an arms race and weaponisation of space.The bloc recognised the achievements of the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation (RSSC) in using space technology to address global challenges and support socio-economic development. The RSSC operates as a virtual constellation integrating existing satellites from member countries, including India’s Resourcesat and China’s Gaofen.The Declaration stressed the need for international cooperation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space and reiterated its commitment to reducing existing disparities in space capabilities among BRICS countries.“We recognise the need to ensure the use of space systems, as well as the achievements of space science and technologies, for peaceful purposes. We also reassert our support for ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) and of its weaponization, as well as the threats or use of force against outer space objects, including through negotiations to adopt a relevant legal multilateral instrument to ensure global security,” the Declaration said.It also welcomed progress towards amending the RSSC Agreement to allow the inclusion of new BRICS space agencies.“The New Delhi Declaration’s emphasis on reducing asymmetries in space capabilities among BRICS nations validates India’s push to build a globally competitive space economy from the ground up. The progress on the Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and the BRICS Space Council reflects the kind of institutional cooperation that benefits emerging space powers like India, giving our satellite manufacturing and downstream data industry access to a much larger cooperative framework. The focus on space debris mitigation is timely too, as India’s own commercial launch cadence accelerates, sustainability of orbital assets has to be a shared priority, not an afterthought. This is exactly the kind of multilateral platform Indian space companies need as they scale globally,” said Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd.), Director-General, Indian Space Association (ISpA).