Outer space

India joins space ‘super league’ as it shoots down satellite by precision missile – Modi

India’s high-end missile has shot down a satellite as part of a “highly complex” test launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, proclaiming that his nation is now a fourth “space superpower” after the US, Russia, and China.

“Some time ago, our scientists shot down a live satellite 300 kilometers away in space, in low-earth orbit,” Modi said in a televised address. The test was conducted as part of a “highly complex” Mission Shakti, “which was completed in three minutes.”

“India has made an unprecedented achievement today,” Modi reiterated, adding, “India registered its name as a space power.”

Anticipating fears of turning space into warfighting domain and igniting a race between rival powers, the Prime Minister said New Dehli’s space program is about creating an atmosphere of peace, not war.