India Triumphs High In Space
India successfully tested an anti-satellite (A-Sat) missile to destroy an orbiting satellite at an altitude of almost 300 KM on Wednesday, jettisoning its longstanding reluctance to flex military muscle in space. In the process, it joined an exclusive club of the US, Russia, and China that posses this deadly capability. India test-fired the three-stage interceptor missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam island off the Odisha coast at 11.10 am. A little over an hour later, PM Narendra Modi announced the success of MISSION SHAKTI in a televised address to the nation. The 18-tonne missile, with two solid rocket boosters, tore into space to hit the 740 kg satellite, flying in a low earth orbit (LEO), bang in the middle barely three minutes after its launch over the Bay of Bengal. Defence Research and Development Organisation chief Sateesh Reddy said that while work on the ballistic missile defence (BMD) programme was going in for years, "the project only got the official ...