India Shoots Down Satellite in Test (reuters.com)

India shot down one of its satellites in space with an anti-satellite missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing the country's first test of such technology as a major breakthrough that establishes it as a space power. From a report: India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China, said Modi, who heads into general elections next month. "Our scientists shot down a live satellite 300 kilometres away in space, in low-earth orbit," Modi said in a television broadcast. "India has made an unprecedented achievement today," he added, speaking in Hindi. "India registered its name as a space power." Anti-satellite weapons allow for attacks on enemy satellites, blinding them or disrupting communications, as well as providing a technology base to intercept ballistic missiles. Update: U.S. says studying India anti-satellite weapons test, warns on debris.

Comments

Surprised..

[Anonymous Coward]

Surprised no west troll mentioning, starvation or toilets.

Re:Space Debris

[jdastrup]

They should be using something that could actually modify the orbit of the satellite either forcing it outside of earths gravity on a trajectory for the sun.

Actually, launching anything into the sun is extremely difficult. It takes speeds of at least 65K mph to counteract Earth's orbit in order to hit the sun and not just end up in an elliptical orbit. It's easier to send something outside of the solar system at just 25K mph.

Re:Space Debris

[White Yeti]

I agree that the short-term collision risk is low and the long-term risk negligible. Even so, there are about 600 objects in or passing through those low altitudes (~100-350 km): about 100 payloads (working or not), 280 spent rocket bodies, 280 other debris. The rocket bodies are relatively large targets, with the highest potential to generate more debris from collisions.

Ah, geopolitics:

Time was running out for India to declare itself as an ASAT power to join the US, Russia and China. The United Nations Conference on Disarmament is discussing a new treaty banning militarisation of space. Once the treaty is done and had India not carried out the ASAT test it would put New Delhi at a serious disadvantage, as it would then only be able to negotiate on such a new treaty as an “outsider” rather than an “insider” with ASAT capability.