Technology accumulation in India’s space programme ground systems: the contribution of foreign and indigenous inputs.

Since the late 1960s, India appears to have accumulated a high level of technological capabilities in the area of ground systems in India’s space programme. This paper
analyses the process of technological learning and focuses on the role of international collaboration, foreign imports and indigenous efforts in building capabilities in different areas of ground systems technology such as rocket launching systems, satellite control and tracking systems, and earth stations during this process. This paper illustrates the importance of foreign technological inputs, particularly in the formative phase, for competence building in a developing country like India. It also demonstrates that strong indigenous efforts along with foreign imports were necessary for India to achieve threshold capability and sustain technological change in the accumulative phase. It appears that both foreign
imports and indigenous efforts have played a complementary role in competence building in ground systems technology in India.