India intentionally blows up satellite with missile

[gary]

The New York Times is reporting that India has intentionally test fired a
rocket to shoot down one of its own satellites.

The explosion has created a debris field increasing the chance of other
satellites and spacecraft one day being struck.

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Gettleman and Hari Kumar, New York Times

This technological leap, which was confirmed by the Pentagon, puts India in an exclusive club of nations, along with the United States, Russia and China, that have proved their ability to destroy targets in space.

But it has potentially ominous repercussions, accelerating the space race with China and destabilizing the uneasy balance of power between India and Pakistan, which are both armed with nuclear weapons. It could allow India essentially to blind an enemy by taking out its space-based communication and surveillance satellites.

Shooting down a satellite is no easy feat. In this case, scientists estimate that the satellite that India blasted apart was moving around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour.

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Gettleman and Hari Kumar, New York Times

In Washington, Air Force Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson told a Senate hearing on Wednesday that India’s test did occur, and that the Pentagon was aware beforehand because India had announced flight bans. General Thompson, the vice commander of the Air Force Space Command, said the launch occurred at 1:39 a.m. Eastern Time, and that the explosion was detected at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado.

He said the test “struck the target vehicle” and created 270 pieces of debris that will likely increase as the debris field expands. He added that, “At this point in time, the International Space Station is not at risk.”

Mr. Modi broke the news in a rare televised address to the nation, and many Indians immediately suspected that his primary objective was more political than technological.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/w...te-missle.html

[multiweb (Marc)]

They must have money to throw away...

[xelasnave]

I presume its a miltary thing.
Take out particular satellites and I expect even many foot soldiers will be taken out of the equation.
Chuna blew up a satellite a while back and I expect that was military driven. Soon we will be posting images of space junk☺

Alex

[Sunfish (Ray)]

The decisions makers must be insane.

Probably a pointless stunt which demonstrates nothing except the extent to which risks will be taken to tighten control.

What happens if it clips , overshoots and does not burn up?. Does a live missile go whipping around in orbit?

[glend (Glen)]

Perhaps they were aiming at Pakistan and missed.

[LewisM]

And yet the pathetic Yanks yet again are pushing for their "exceptional" space force that can destroy anything (supposedly) from orbit. They destroy enough on Earth, let alone extending that to orbiting above us like a completely and utterly evil Big Brother.

[astroron (Ron)]

Isn't this double standards from the yanks and the so called United Nations treaties.
Chase North Korea and nearly start WW3 yet two nuclear weapons nations like India and Pakistan can fire and and test weapons at will with nary a whimper from Dumph or the UN.
BTW these two nations have fought 4 wars since partition in 1948 and have been very close to aiming nuclear weapons at each other.
Both Nations have refused to sign the Nuclear test ban treaty, yet Rat Bag Australia goes against the treaty and supplies India with nuclear fuel, on the promise that the fuel will only be used for peaceful purposes
Pull this one it's got bells on
Cheers

[LewisM]

Spot on Ron. Double standards abound with the USA and I honestly believe they don’t even realize it.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by LewisM

And yet the pathetic Yanks yet again are pushing for their "exceptional" space force that can destroy anything (supposedly) from orbit. They destroy enough on Earth, let alone extending that to orbiting above us like a completely and utterly evil Big Brother.

I bet they're all pointed at the Russians under your bed.

[gary]

AFP are reporting more on the satellite destruction today.

Originally Posted by AFP

Experts believe the target of the Indian missile was a Microsat-R satellite, weighing 740 kilograms (1,631 pounds) which India launched on January 24.

Story here :-
https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/indi...nk-doc-1f67k31

[Stonius (Markus)]

It's military dog whistling. "just letting everyone else know that we can shoot down your satellites, so don't mess with us'. It's deterrent.


Unfortunately the US started it back in 2008 when they shot down one of their own spy satellites supposedly for 'safety'. Hmmmm


http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...2008/1327.html


Now everyone that joins the club has to do it too.


Markus

[Exfso (Peter)]

Apparently the shrapnel left over is now endangering the ISS. What a stuff up

[Stonius (Markus)]

Originally Posted by Exfso

Apparently the shrapnel left over is now endangering the ISS. What a stuff up

https://www.theguardian.com/science/...ing-space-junk


It's interesting though, isn't it? If war broke out and your first strategy would be to shoot down the enemy's satellites, you would immediately endanger your own too. It reminds me a little bit of the nuclear MAD deal. Though I don't suppose spy satellites have to worry about decompression, they could still suffer catastrophic damage from a strike.


M

[LewisM]

Imagine the debris if the short-sighted chest beating morons in Washington had detonated a nuclear weapon on the Moon as they planned...we wouldn’t have an ISS... but lots of moonlets

[billdan (Bill)]

I would imagine if WW3 broke out the first targets will be the GPS satellites that just about every military mobile device on earth rely on.