Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate a model of the anti-satellite missile system, which is seen as a symbol of national technological advancement, at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters in the national capital today.
Earlier, DRDO had successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test ‘Mission Shakti’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha on March 27, 2019. A DRDO-developed A-SAT Missile successfully engaged an Indian orbiting target satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in a ‘Hit to Kill’ mode. The interceptor missile was a three-stage missile with two solid rocket boosters.
Anti-satellite system
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic military purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has yet been utilised in warfare, a few nations have shot down their own satellites to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities in a show of force. Only the United States, Russia, China, and India have demonstrated this capability successfully. The roles include a defensive measure against an adversary’s space-based nuclear and weapons, a force multiplier for a nuclear first strike, a countermeasure against an adversary’s anti-ballistic missile defence (ABM), an asymmetric counter to a technologically superior adversary, and a counter-value weapon.
