India successfully tested an anti-satellite (A-Sat) missile to destroy an orbiting satellite at an altitude of almost 300km 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 possess this deadly capability.
India test-fired the threestage interceptor missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast at 11.10am. 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.

India successfully tested an anti-satellite (A-Sat) missile to destroy an orbiting satellite at an altitude of almost 300km 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 possess this deadly capability.
India test-fired the threestage interceptor missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast at 11.10am. 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.