India joins space supremacy race by shooting down satellite

India’s Prime Minister has declared his country a “space superpower” after it shot down a satellite.

A man watches Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation after the destruction of a low-orbiting satellite in a missile test that had put the country in the space "super league", Picture: Prakash Singh/AFP

India has successfully carried out its first anti-satellite weapon test, with the prime minister declaring the country a space superpower weeks before the general election.

Narendra Modi revealed in an address to the nation that scientists had launched the anti-satellite (A-Sat) missile, making India the fourth nation to possess the weapon, after the United States, Russia and China.

“We are not just capable to defend on land, water and air, but now also in space,” Mr Modi, 68, said. “India has registered its name in the list of space superpowers.”

He insisted that the test, which shot down a low-orbiting satellite, was not a threat to any specific nation, although the announcement came a month after India clashed with Pakistan over Kashmir, a crisis that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war. India has also been eager to narrow the gap in military superiority with China.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry condemned the Indian test in a statement. “Every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarisation of this arena,” it said.

Previous anti-satellite tests have raised concerns about the weaponisation of space. China said that it hoped all countries could “earnestly protect lasting peace and tranquillity in space”.

The announcement was widely dismissed among Mr Modi’s domestic rivals as an attempt to distract from poor economic data, the greatest threat to his hopes of re-election.

A-Sat tests are controversial because they leave huge volumes of debris in the atmosphere. India’s foreign ministry denied that the test would cause lasting damage, claiming that parts from the destroyed satellite would “decay and fall back on to the Earth within weeks”.

Despite a relatively modest pounds 1.3 billion budget, about one tenth of that of NASA, India’s space program has made strides in recent years. The country put a satellite into orbit around Mars in 2014 and launched a record 104 satellites on a single rocket two years ago.

Critics, however, have questioned the value of a space program in a country where many live in poverty.

The Times