SIPRI mourns the passing of Dr Bhupendra Jasani, who died in London on 25 November at the age of 87.
Dan Smith, SIPRI Director, said, ‘Bhupendra Jasani pioneered the Institute’s work on the military uses of outer space. The topics he worked on at the time remain even more relevant today’.
A physicist by training, educated at the University of London and University of Southampton, Bhupendra Jasani was a member of the SIPRI research staff from 1972 to 1987. During his tenure at SIPRI, Dr Jasani’s research focused on the militarization of outer space, nuclear weapon proliferation and anti-ballistic missiles. He became known as a pioneer in the field of military uses of outer space and worked extensively on military satellite reconnaissance and arms control verification.
‘I learned a great deal about arms control and international relations at SIPRI. My gurus were the well-established “grand-pappies” in the field’, wrote Dr Jasani in a personal essay marking the Institute’s 40th anniversary. ‘The wonderful editorial staff taught me a good deal about the values and uses of words . . . What amounted to almost 16 years at SIPRI prepared me in many ways for my life in London since 1987’, he added.
Dr Bhupendra Jasani was a Rockwell International Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London between 1987–90, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, University of London, since 1991. Dr Jasani made significant inputs to the Palme Commission, 1984, an Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues headed by the late prime minister of Sweden, Olof Palme. He also contributed to the final Brundtland Commission Report (1987) on Our Common Future. In addition, between 1996 and 2000, he wrote several reports which helped the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) use commercial observation satellites for its safeguards procedures. Between 2003 and 2007, Dr Jasani coordinated projects that used commercial remote sensing satellites in the European Commission (EC) study, the Global Monitoring for Security and Stability (GMOSS). He was a member of the World Economic Forum between 2011–14; a lecturer at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and an adjunct professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore, India.
For editors
SIPRI published several volumes written by Dr Bhupendra Jasani, such as Outer space: Battlefield of the future? (Taylor & Francis: 1978); Nuclear energy and nuclear weapon proliferation (Taylor & Francis: 1979); Outer space: A new dimension of the arms race (Taylor & Francis: 1982); Space weapons: The arms control dilemma (Taylor & Francis: 1984); Countdown to space war (Taylor & Francis: 1984) and Satellites for arms control and crisis monitoring (Oxford University Press: 1987). Additionally, he contributed to each edition of the SIPRI Yearbook from 1973 to 1987 and authored numerous articles in various journals.