Days after NASA raised concerns over orbital debris in the aftermath of the Mission Shakti anti-satellite (A-SAT) strike, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief G Satheesh Reddy on Saturday, 6 April, said that all debris will decay within 45 days from the day of the launch.
He said, “India chose a much lower orbit for Mission Shakti to avoid threat of debris to global space assets.”
Reddy, at a briefing held at the DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi, said the interceptor had the capability to intercept satellites in orbit of 1,000 km.
"An orbit of around 300 km was chosen for the test for capability demonstration, and the purpose was to avoid threat of debris to any global space assets," Reddy said.
On 27 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India had achieved a "historic feat" by shooting down its own low-orbit satellite with a ground-to-space missile, making the country a "space power.”
NASA Administrator, James Bridenstine, had on 2 April branded the destruction of an Indian satellites by India under Mission Shakti a “terrible thing” because it had created 400 pieces of orbital debris and led to new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
India's Ministry of External Affairs had previously said that the test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris.
Nonetheless, on 6 April, in a letter to ISRO Chairman K Sivan, Bridenstine said that, "based on the guidance received from the White House,” he looks forward to continuing to work with ISRO on a host of issues including human space flights.
On 6 April, Deputy National Security Adviser Pankaj Saran told ANI, “Debris will decay, it'll fall back to Earth. We're in touch with NASA. They're aware of our position and I think we're in a position where we're communicating regularly with them. In the international community, there's satisfaction about the logic of our test.”
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