CURRENT AFFAIRS | 4 MAY 2026
CLAT GK + CONSTITUTIONAL LAW & RELEVANT AREA
On May 3, 2026, Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup GalaxEye launched Drishti — the world’s first satellite combining synchronous optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging on a single platform — aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The IIT Madras-incubated company has anchored India’s post-2023 New Space economy: private end-to-end space activity authorised under the Indian Space Policy 2023, regulated by IN-SPACe, with the State remaining internationally liable as the “launching state” under the Liability Convention 1972.
What Happened
Drishti rode the CAS500-2 mission as a piggyback payload. Its USP is OptoSAR — optical sensors capture true-colour ground imagery while SAR (microwave) imaging penetrates clouds and works at night. The two streams are synchronous and ground-truthed against each other. Use cases: precision agriculture, disaster monitoring, defence intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance (ISR), maritime domain awareness. PM Modi, Vice-President Radhakrishnan and EAM Jaishankar publicly congratulated the team.
Why It Matters for CLAT
This is a perfect setup for a passage on the Indian Space Policy 2023 framework — a policy that for the first time codified end-to-end private participation. It also tests Outer Space Treaty 1967 Article VI: states bear international responsibility for the activities of their non-governmental entities in outer space. Even though Drishti is a private GalaxEye satellite launched on a SpaceX rocket, India remains the “launching state” under the Liability Convention 1972. That is why IN-SPACe authorisation is mandatory before any private launch.
Constitutional & Statutory Framework
- Indian Space Policy 2023 — private end-to-end participation framework
- IN-SPACe (2020) — single-window regulator under DoS
- Outer Space Treaty 1967, Art VI — state responsibility for non-govt actors
- Liability Convention 1972 — launching state’s absolute liability
- Article 73 + List I Entry 14 — Union’s foreign affairs power
- Telecommunications Act 2023 — satcom spectrum framework
The CLAT Angle
The favourite trap: thinking that private launches free India from international liability. Wrong. Under the Liability Convention 1972, the “launching state” — India, in this case — bears absolute liability for damage caused on Earth by any space object from its territory or by its national entities. That is precisely why IN-SPACe (2020) was set up under the Department of Space: it is the gatekeeping authoriser for private launches, not just a promotion body.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Satellite | Drishti (GalaxEye) |
| Launch date | May 3, 2026 |
| Launch vehicle | SpaceX Falcon 9 / Vandenberg |
| Mission | CAS500-2 |
| Tech | OptoSAR (Optical + SAR) |
| Incubator | IIT Madras |
| Regulator | IN-SPACe (2020) |
Mnemonic — DRISHTI
Dual-imaging · Radar-SAR · IIT-Madras · SpaceX · Hybrid-OptoSAR · Through-clouds · IN-SPACe
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