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Watch: The First Launch Of India’s Satellite-Killer Missile
A derivative of the Prithvi Defence Vehicle missile interceptor. (Livefist/Twitter)
India today demonstrated its anti-satellite capability by shooting down a satellite in the Low-Earth Orbit, at the height of 300 km.
The test, called ‘Mission Shakti’, was conducted from the Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha using a derivative of the Prithvi Defence Vehicle missile interceptor developed for the country’s ballistic missile defence program.
The DRDO has released a video of the launch:
According to reports, the 740kg Microsat-R satellite, that was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation on 24 January, was used as the target.
The demonstration of this capability has put India in an elite club of nations which can shoot down satellites in orbit. India has become the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to demonstrate this capability.
Retired scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation have said that the agency had in place the “building blocks” of anti-satellite capability as early as 2012, but the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government did not give a go-ahead for further development and testing.
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