India needs an aerospace command to exploit outer space and it will be established soon, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said on Sunday.

The Indian Air Force is in the process of establishing an aerospace command to exploit outer space by integrating its capabilities, he told reporters in Gandhinagar.

The remark of the air chief, in Gandhinagar to attend the South Western Air Command's station commanders' conference, assumes significance as recent reports said China has successfully tested its anti-satellite weapon by destroying one of its own weather satellites.

"As the reach of the Indian Air Force is expanding, it has become extremely important that we exploit space, and for it you need space assets," Tyagi, due to retire in March, noted.

"We are an aerospace power having trans-oceanic reach. We have started training a core group of people for the aerospace command," Tyagi said.

The IAF chief was non-commital on the exact timeframe of setting up of the aerospace command.

The aerospace command will be an integration of various components of the air force. Indian satellites, radars, communications systems, fighter aircraft and helicopters would be integrated under the command, IAF officers said.

This would be done taking into considerations various needs such as communciations, reconnaissance and battefield damage assessment as the reach of the IAF has increased, they observed.