advertisement
India joined a special club of nations capable of destroying satellites in space on Wednesday, 27 March; the only other nations capable of this feat is the United States of America, Russia and China.
The target was an out-of-service Indian satellite flying at an altitude of 300km in space. In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the operation ‘Mission Shakti’ and stated that this is an important step towards securing India.
According to former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief VK Saraswat, India already had the building blocks to develop an A-SAT missile, which fell in place with the development of the Agni-V missile.
However, Saraswat had said in 2012 that DRDO had no plans to conduct a physical test in space as it could create space debris, which can impact other satellites in orbit.
Incidentally, in a press conference held after the success of ‘Mission Shakti’, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Indian scientists had the capability to develop A-SAT missile technology way back in 2012, but the UPA government didn’t green-light the programme.
In an interview to India Today in 2012, Saraswat stated that it is far more difficult to intercept ballistic missiles than to intercept satellites as the latter follows as predictive orbit.
The Agni-III propulsion too can be used to guide the weapons’ payload to intercept a satellite, according to Saraswat.
Saraswat said, “We have proved our A-SAT technology through simulation and we are not planning any tests to avoid space debris. However, if the nation needs such technology, then we are capable to deliver the same.”
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)