Operation Shakti | Burning Issues

Table of Contents

WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT

NASA graphic of the space-objects field (including satellites & debris totalling 740,000. The halo signifies the LEO objects. Among these was an Indian satellite travelling at 29,000 kmph.

INDIA’S TEST IN 2019

Neither Modi nor the ministry identified the satellite targeted by the test. Indian media speculated that the likely targets were either Microsat-R, launched in January, or Microsat-TD, launched a year earlier.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

On February 10, 2010, Defence Research and Development Organisation Director-General and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, Dr.VK Saraswat stated that India had “all the building blocks necessary” to integrate an antisatellite weapon to neutralize hostile satellites in low earth and polar orbits.

CHINA’S TEST AND CRITICISM

On January 11, 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite missile test.
Several nations responded negatively to the test and highlighted the serious consequences of engaging in the militarisation of space. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao stated, “There’s no need to feel threatened about this” and argued that “China will not participate in any kind of arms race in outer space.

OPERATION BURNT FROST

Operation Burnt Frost was the code name given to the military operation to intercept and destroy a nonfunctioning U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite named USA-193

PREVIOUS TESTS BY U.S AND RUSSIA

The United States performed the first anti-satellite tests in 1959 Bold Orion, designed as a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile repurposed to attack satellites, was launched from a bomber
The Soviet Union performed similar tests around the same time. In the 1960s and early 1970s, it tested a weapon that could be launched in orbit, approach enemy satellites and destroy them with an explosive charge

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND CHINA’S TESTS IN 2007-2008

China’s 2007 test is considered the most destructive. Because the impact took place at an altitude of more than 800 km (500 miles), many of the resulting scraps stayed in orbit.
The US test in 2008 did not create as much orbital debris, and because it was at a lower altitude, atmospheric drag caused much of it to fall toward Earth and burn up.
India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that its test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure there was no debris in space and that whatever was left would “decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks”.

CHINA REACTS

China reacted guardedly to India’s anti-satellite missile test and expressed hope that all countries will uphold peace and tranquillity in the outer space.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a written response to a question from PTI on India successfully test-firing an anti-satellite missile, said: “We have noticed reports and hope that each country will uphold peace and tranquillity in outer space”.

PAKISTAN REACTS

Pakistan issued a call against military threats in outer space
“Space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarization of this arena,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We hope that countries which have in the past strongly condemned demonstration of similar capabilities by others will be prepared to work towards developing international instruments to prevent military threats relating to outer space,” it said, without mentioning India by name.

PAKISTAN AND CHINA

Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite
The Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS), commercially known as Remote Sensing Satellite System (RSSS), is a dual-purpose Earth observational and optical satellite. Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 (PRSS-1) was launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Centre on 9 July 2018.
China has more than 30 military satellites