The Impact of an Autonomous Drone System in Providing Security for the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Andhra Pradesh

Author

Geda Kyathi Sri , Dr. Thota Chandrasekhar Yadav


Abstract

 Autonomous drones are increasingly considered for guarding large, sensitive and hard-to-patrol installations. This pilot study examines how stakeholders of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, perceive the potential of an autonomous drone system to strengthen security at the spaceport. The study combines secondary data (published literature, a parliamentary reply, official drone regulations and news reports on SHAR) with primary data collected through an online structured questionnaire from 43 respondents, comprising employees, local residents, a security professional and other stakeholders, using convenience sampling. Responses were analysed with descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, one-sample t and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Spearman correlation, the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests and chi-square goodness-of-fit tests. 65.1% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that autonomous drones could significantly improve security at SHAR, and 74.4% agreed that drones could improve monitoring of restricted areas. The composite Drone Security Perception Index (mean = 3.33 on a 5-point scale; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.79) was significantly above the neutral midpoint (t(41) = 3.29, p = 0.002). Perception did not differ significantly by familiarity with drone technology, respondent role, or concern about hacking. Adverse weather was the most frequently cited implementation challenge (34.1%), 72.1% favoured constant human supervision, and 51.2% were concerned about cyber-attacks. The findings indicate conditional optimism and support a phased, human-supervised, cyber-secured pilot deployment. Because of the small non-probability sample, the results are indicative rather than generalisable.



Keywords

Autonomous drones; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Security surveillance; Critical infrastructure; SHAR; Sriharikota; Perception study; Pilot study



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References


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