China puts Pakistan’s remote sensing satellite-01 into space: Should India be worried about this?

China launched Pakistan's Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS-01) into its present orbit on Thursday, July 31, aboard a Kuaizhou‑1A (KZ‑1A) rocket from its Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan. The satellite successfully reached its planned orbit just minutes after its launch. Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), in collaboration with Indonesia-based Microsat China and state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), has achieved this feat. The satellite is supposed to enhance Pakistan's capability to respond to natural disasters. It also marks another milestone in the ever-enhancing cooperation in aerospace technology between China and Pakistan. However, questions will be raised in New Delhi as Pakistan's enhanced imaging capacity with the help of China is a security threat to India.

Possible uses of PRSS-01

It is Pakistan's fourth Earth observational satellite under the URAAN programme. It will be able to produce high-resolution images that will be used in vital tasks like disaster management, such as floods, landslides, and glacier melt; agricultural monitoring, deforestation tracking, and climate resilience planning; urban infrastructure, land-use surveys, and transportation mapping. This satellite is expected to bring the environmental monitoring capacity of Pakistan close to the level of developed nations.
Before PRSS-01, Pakistan had other satellites like Badr Satellite Series (Badr-A, Badr-B) for low Earth orbit, PakTES-1A.

Why PRSS-01 should concern India

Even though touted for civilian utility, PRSS-01 has the capability to capture high-resolution images from approximately 1 m or better. Earlier, Pakistan had installed the PakTES-1A, which had very low-resolution images from 2.5-5 meters. This makes PRSS-01 a significant improvement, making it detailed enough for surveillance of military bases, radar installations, troops and vehicle movement. Even though no clear definition of a data sharing agreement between China and Pakistan is reported, but being built and launched using Chinese infrastructure, China might possibly retain the visuals from the satellite. Thus, making sensitive regions like Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Arunachal Pradesh more vulnerable.

India does possess better satellite capabilities with a plethora of options like RISAT series, Cartosat Series, EMISAT, GSAT & GSAT-7 Series, and Hyperspectral & Infrared imaging instruments. Some of these are dedicated to strategic and border monitoring. Thus making it capable of day/night, all weather, ultra high resolution monitoring. Pakistan's recent satellite is a step towards bridging the technological divide. However, with improved technology, Pakistan is less reliant on commercial satellites like Maxar to produce images for regions within India. So it indeed is a security concern for India.