India shoots down satellite in test, Modi hails arrival as space power
Source: Reuters
India shot down one of its satellites in space with an anti-satellite missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing the countrys first test of such technology as a major breakthrough that establishes it as a space power.
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 kilometers away in space, in low-earth orbit, Modi said in a television broadcast.
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In a statement, Indias neighbor and arch-rival Pakistan said space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarization of this arena.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-satellite-idUSKCN1R80IA
Canoe52
(2,949 posts)Or maybe just Joe Friday from Dragnet to ask some questions.
progree
(10,918 posts)That's an enormous relief, if true.
There were a lot by the U.S. and U.S.S.R., of course. This is surprising:
According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost
... ... Next they wanted to wait until the satellite was close to re-entry, this would limit the amount of space debris created. Finally, they did not want to let the satellite enter the earths atmosphere because of its non-aerodynamic characteristics, which would make it extremely hard to intercept.
... ... This prompted the Russians to accuse the United States of using the hydrazine gas as a cover-up to test an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. They claimed that several countries satellites which used toxic fuel have crashed into the Earth in the past but never warranted such extraordinary measures.[17] Furthering this notion, others have speculated that the toxic gas would have likely not survived re-entry regardless, and even if it had that the risk would be extremely smal
and U.S. denials that it had any such purpose and noting that the U.S. has already extensively tested ASAT weapons.