India shoots down satellite in test, Modi hails arrival as space power

[muriel_volestrangler]

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 country’s 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.
...
In a statement, India’s 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]

1. Better send up the space force!

Or maybe just Joe Friday from Dragnet to ask some questions.

[progree]

2. About the disastrously growing space junk problem for which there isn't a solution

The three-minute test in the lower atmosphere ensured there was no debris in space and the remnants would “decay and fall back on to the earth within weeks”, the ministry added.

That's an enormous relief, if true.

China destroyed a satellite in 2007, creating the largest orbital debris cloud in history, with more than 3,000 objects, according to the Secure World Foundation.

There were a lot by the U.S. and U.S.S.R., of course. This is surprising:

The following year ((meaning in 2008 -Progree)), the United States used a ship-launched SM-3 missile to destroy a defunct spy satellite in Operation Burnt Frost.

According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost

While the launch was successful, ground controllers lost control over the USA-193 satellite shortly after it was established on its orbit, and were unable to regain control. The satellite itself posed minimal risk of falling and causing damage. However, the satellite carried hydrazine fuel which is very toxic.[4] In 2008, President George W. Bush decided this risk would be too great and tasked United States Strategic Command to destroy the satellite to preserve human life.

... ... 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 earth’s 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.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Oh, happy happy joy joy -- more space debris to endanger other satellites, ISS, and astronauts. nt