Here Is All About ASAT Capability That Puts India Into Elite Club With The US, Russia And China
It was a normal Late March morning until Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly brought every India to their toes. He tweeted that he would be making an important announcement after a few minutes. Anxiety was apparent on the face of people in offices and the streets. The memory of demonetisation returned to haunt people. Finally, the PM appeared on TV screens and announced that India had become the fourth country to have an Anti-Satellite Missile System or ASAT.
This enables the country to destroy the enemy satellites in case of war.
India has become the fourth country to acquire this capability after the US, Russia and China.
PM Modi spoke about the project codenamed ‘Mission Shakti’ as India tested its capability by shooting down a surveillance satellite which was in the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) spectrum which in the case can be enemy satellites spying on India.
The satellite was shot down in three minutes flat.
“#MissionShakti is special for 2 reasons: (1) India is only the 4th country to acquire such a specialised & modern capability. (2) Entire effort is indigenous. India stands tall as a space power! It will make India stronger, even more secure and will further peace and harmony.”
“#MissionShakti was a highly complex one, conducted at extremely high speed with remarkable precision. It shows the remarkable dexterity of India’s outstanding scientists and the success of our space programme.”
PM Modi hailed Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is executing this feet. The project was entirely indigenous.
Here is all about ASAT.
What is an ASAT weapon?
Anti-Satellite (ASAT) are the space weapons designed to destroy the satellite. It can be used for the strategic military purpose at the time of war apart from destroying the old satellite which doesn’t serve the purpose anymore.
How does an ASAT work?
An ASAT is mainly a long-range missile which has a kinetic kill vehicle attached to it. Once locked on the target, it can intercept, engage and destroy the target and its range would depend on the platform from where it is to be launched. The US and Russia have the capability of launching these missiles from ship and land.
Not used in war till date
Though the main purpose of this capability is the protect one from enemy satellite snooping on a country’s installations, but it has never been used in warfare. Several countries have used to incapacitate their defunct satellites.
Traces from ASAT history
The history of ASAT goes back to 1950s when the US started its research on technology. As the cold war was gathering heat, the USSR began working on it in the 1960s. In August 1970, the Soviets hit a spacecraft for the first time
Russia has also demonstrated its ASAT capability in recent years. China is another country which has this capability as in January 2007, China successfully destroyed its own defunct weather satellite.