What

The Orrery is a fortnightly newsletter on space power and policy, written from an Indian seat.

Every edition will have one analysis of the most consequential development in the space domain.

Who

I’m Ashwin Prasad Rao. I think about space strategy at the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru. My work covers India’s space reforms, commercial space, satellite communications, and space security. I’ve written for The Hindu, the Indian Express, ThePrint, and The Diplomat, and I’ve delivered various lectures on space power. I trained as an electronics and communication engineer before turning to policy.

Why

Why “Orrery”? An orrery is a clockwork model of the solar system. When one cranks the mechanism, the whole system moves at once. Every part is visible, decomposable and related. With this newsletter, I’d like to observe and analyse the power politics in our solar system the same way.

If you work on, report on, or make decisions about space, you will find this relevant. It’s free. Subscribe and you’ll get one edition a week.