A first-of-its-kind exercise aiming to secure India's national strategic objectives in space got underway here on Monday with Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan asserting that space is now the "critical enabler" of the country's defence and security apparatus. 'Antariksha Abhyas 2024', an exercise to "war-game the growing threats from and to space-based assets and services", is being conducted by the Defence Space Agency of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff from November 11-13, the defence ministry said in a statement. Highlighting that space was becoming increasingly "congested, contested, competitive and commercial", CDS Chauhan impressed upon the military leadership to secure national interests in space by fostering innovation and developing cutting-edge technologies and state-of-the-art systems in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and academia. The first-of-its-kind exercise is . Read The Rest at :