Mission Shakti

                                                       Source- ISRO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday [March 27] announced that India successfully test-fired an anti-satellite missile by shooting down a live satellite, describing it as a rare achievement that puts the country in an exclusive club of space superpowers.

The test makes India the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites.

Prime Minister Modi said that the action was not directed against any country and the satellite was a pre-determined target orbiting at an altitude of 300 km.

He said India did not breach any international laws or treaties by testing the anti-satellite missile.

Mission Shakti, which was led by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, was just aimed at strengthening India's overall security.

What are Anti Satellite weapons (ASATs)?

Anti-satellite weapons (ASATs) are created to destroy or incapacitate satellites. There are many countries which have this capability, but only four countries — including India — have demonstrated their ASAT capabilities. The US first tested ASAT technology in 1958, the USSR followed in 1964 and China in 2007. In 2015, Russia tested its PL-19 Nudol missile and followed it up with other tests.

Why Mission Shakti is path breaking?

1. The use of ASAT is seen as crossing new frontier just like India’s 1998 nuclear tests. Anti-satellite technology has so far been in the hands of very few countries: the United States, Russia and China. The acquisition and demonstration of this technology make India a member of an elite group of countries.

2. The fact that this anti-satellite technology is indigenously developed adds to India’s credentials, given that for many decades India was kept away from acquiring key technologies, forcing the country to develop its own space and nuclear capabilities.

3. The anti-satellite space technology shows India’s focus on security challenges, emanating beyond Pakistan. “The ASAT weapon is likely to be the most potent military tool for the armed forces over the next few decades.

4.The acquisition of this technology is expected to have spin-offs that India can exploit for commercial use, both domestic and globally.

Reactions of other countries

After India entered the elite space club of four countries that have anti-satellite missiles with a test launched today, its neighbours Pakistan and China reacted differently to India's 'Mission Shakti'.

While China expressed hope that all countries will uphold peace and tranquillity in the outer space, Pakistan said that countries should use space technologies only for socio-economic development.

On the success of mission shakti, many leaders tweeted their congratulatory messages to DRDO