India Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Missile Developments
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India's space force set to take off? Centre approves agency to develop weapons
The decision was taken at the topmost level by the government some time ago and the agency has started taking shape under a Joint Secretary-level scientist.
Published: 11th June 2019 06:33 PM | Last Updated: 11th June 2019 06:52 PM, By ANI
Anti-satellite ballistic missile being launched from Dr APJ Kalam Island, Odisha on March 27 (File Photo | PTI)
NEW DELHI: With the aim of enhancing the capabilities of the armed forces to fight wars in space, the government has approved the setting up of a new agency which will develop sophisticated weapon systems and technologies for the purpose.
"The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared the setting up of this new agency called the Defence Space Research Agency (DSRO) which has been entrusted with the task of creating space warfare weapon systems and technologies," sources in the Defence Ministry told ANI.
The decision was taken at the topmost level by the government some time ago and the agency has started taking shape under a Joint Secretary-level scientist.
The agency would be provided with a team of scientists which would be working in close coordination with the tri-services integrated defence staff officers.
The agency would be providing the research and development support to the Defence Space Agency (DSA) which comprises members of the three services. The DSA has been created to help the country fight wars in the space.
In March this year, the country had carried out the Anti Satellite Test which demonstrated its capability to shoot down satellites in space.
With this missile test, India joined an elite club of four nations with such capability. The test also helped the country develop deterrence capability against adversaries who may want to attack Indian satellites to cripple systems in times of war.
The Defence Space Agency is being set up in Bengaluru under an Air Vice Marshal-rank officer and will gradually take over the space-related capabilities of the three forces.
The Modi government has created agencies for tackling space and cyber warfare along with a Special Operations Division to tackle the need for special operations required to be carried out both inside and outside the country.
India's space force set to take off? Centre approves agency to develop weapons
DSRO ? Shit's getting real on the Space front.
The decision was taken at the topmost level by the government some time ago and the agency has started taking shape under a Joint Secretary-level scientist.
Published: 11th June 2019 06:33 PM | Last Updated: 11th June 2019 06:52 PM, By ANI
Anti-satellite ballistic missile being launched from Dr APJ Kalam Island, Odisha on March 27 (File Photo | PTI)
NEW DELHI: With the aim of enhancing the capabilities of the armed forces to fight wars in space, the government has approved the setting up of a new agency which will develop sophisticated weapon systems and technologies for the purpose.
"The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared the setting up of this new agency called the Defence Space Research Agency (DSRO) which has been entrusted with the task of creating space warfare weapon systems and technologies," sources in the Defence Ministry told ANI.
The decision was taken at the topmost level by the government some time ago and the agency has started taking shape under a Joint Secretary-level scientist.
The agency would be provided with a team of scientists which would be working in close coordination with the tri-services integrated defence staff officers.
The agency would be providing the research and development support to the Defence Space Agency (DSA) which comprises members of the three services. The DSA has been created to help the country fight wars in the space.
In March this year, the country had carried out the Anti Satellite Test which demonstrated its capability to shoot down satellites in space.
With this missile test, India joined an elite club of four nations with such capability. The test also helped the country develop deterrence capability against adversaries who may want to attack Indian satellites to cripple systems in times of war.
The Defence Space Agency is being set up in Bengaluru under an Air Vice Marshal-rank officer and will gradually take over the space-related capabilities of the three forces.
The Modi government has created agencies for tackling space and cyber warfare along with a Special Operations Division to tackle the need for special operations required to be carried out both inside and outside the country.
India's space force set to take off? Centre approves agency to develop weapons
DSRO ? Shit's getting real on the Space front.
Opinion | What it would take for India to become a proper space power
4 min read. Updated: 23 Jun 2019, 07:57 PM IST
By Nitin Pai.
It is not Star Wars yet, but space has undoubtedly become a military theatre. It is time to rethink our approach.
The Narendra Modi government’s decision to set up a Defence Space Agency (DSA) with command over the space assets of the Army, Navy and Air Force is the most significant development in India’s defence establishment since the operationalization of the nuclear arsenal around 15 years ago. It is not Star Wars yet, but space has undoubtedly become a military theatre. The US, Russia, China and, since March, India, have shown that they have the capability to physically destroy satellites in orbit. Like it or not, the post-Cold War space arms race is underway.
What should be India’s objectives in this new game? Before we answer that question, it is important to recall the exceptional route India took to get here. The US, Russia, China and Europe developed space capabilities for military purposes first, and then put those technologies to civilian use. Barring Europe’s Ariane rockets, their extant satellite launch vehicles are derived from their respective intercontinental ballistic missile designs. India’s space quest, on the other hand, was focused on civilian use—weather forecasting, broadcast, telecommunications and remote sensing. It was only in the mid-1980s that technology from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 was employed in the Agni ballistic missile. When it comes to satellites, India has a handful of military satellites in operation, compared to over 40 civilian ones. Our first dedicated military satellite was launched only in 2013.
Just like India was late to militarize space, it has been late to weaponize it. That’s not a bad thing, but in the changed circumstances of the 21st century, it is time to rethink our approach.
India’s unstated space doctrine, if we try and put it into words, is to use space to promote development and the well-being and prosperity of its people. What we must do now is to include the word “security" in that sentence. In doing so, the policy goal will change from having a space presence to being a space power.
What does it mean to be a space power? Colin Gray, one of the world’s most respected scholars of strategy, says that it is “the ability to use space while denying reliable use to any foe". India already has significant ability to use space. But our ability to deny its use to an adversary is, understandably, negligible. March’s anti-satellite (A-SAT) test is the first visible sign that India is on the road to acquire counter-space capability. The newly instituted DSA will be supported by a defence space research organization (DSRO) that should create weapons to “deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy or deceive an adversary’s space capability".
At this stage of the space game, the DSA will need to consider taking up four initiatives.
First, India must protect and secure two kinds of space assets—those that belong to us and those that are crucial to our economy and national security. While satellites are usually hardened to weather the harsh extremes of the space environment, in older designs, protection against space weapons might not have been considered. Future designs must certainly factor in the risk of attack by hostile forces.
Second, in order to effectively defend our space assets, India must have the most reliable and accurate capabilities to track space objects, from debris and spacecraft to celestial bodies. Since accurate tracking forms the basis of almost every conceivable action that we might undertake—including the all-important ability to target at will—this crucial capability must be developed indigenously.
Third, for space defence to be effective, India must acquire a minimum, credible offensive capacity across the various types of space weapons, physical, electronic and cyber. The “minimum" is to ensure that we do not get overly drawn into an arms race, while ensuring that we have what it takes to deter attacks on our space assets. As India has demonstrated in the nuclear sphere, such a posture is wise, possible and works. Credibility demands that both partners and adversaries are persuaded that we have the capacity, so occasional demonstrations become necessary.
Finally, our broader space policy must acquire a new seriousness in improving launch capabilities and spacecraft design. The ability to place large satellites in geostationary orbits should become highly reliable. ISRO’s budgets must be enlarged, of course, but just as importantly, private entrants encouraged in everything from launches to specialized payloads. Like the US, China has recognized that the creative energies of private entrepreneurs can bolster its space power. Why shouldn’t we?
Five centuries ago, a few small European countries acquired global power and domination by investing in well-armed blue-water navies. On the subcontinent, the mighty Mughal empire—larger and perhaps militarily more powerful than most of them—settled for a coastal force performing constabulary duties. The failure to appreciate how much the game had changed, and how best to equip for it, proved very expensive in the long run. Let us not forget that lesson.
Nitin Pai is co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy
Opinion | What it would take for India to become a proper space power
4 min read. Updated: 23 Jun 2019, 07:57 PM IST
By Nitin Pai.
It is not Star Wars yet, but space has undoubtedly become a military theatre. It is time to rethink our approach.
The Narendra Modi government’s decision to set up a Defence Space Agency (DSA) with command over the space assets of the Army, Navy and Air Force is the most significant development in India’s defence establishment since the operationalization of the nuclear arsenal around 15 years ago. It is not Star Wars yet, but space has undoubtedly become a military theatre. The US, Russia, China and, since March, India, have shown that they have the capability to physically destroy satellites in orbit. Like it or not, the post-Cold War space arms race is underway.
What should be India’s objectives in this new game? Before we answer that question, it is important to recall the exceptional route India took to get here. The US, Russia, China and Europe developed space capabilities for military purposes first, and then put those technologies to civilian use. Barring Europe’s Ariane rockets, their extant satellite launch vehicles are derived from their respective intercontinental ballistic missile designs. India’s space quest, on the other hand, was focused on civilian use—weather forecasting, broadcast, telecommunications and remote sensing. It was only in the mid-1980s that technology from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 was employed in the Agni ballistic missile. When it comes to satellites, India has a handful of military satellites in operation, compared to over 40 civilian ones. Our first dedicated military satellite was launched only in 2013.
Just like India was late to militarize space, it has been late to weaponize it. That’s not a bad thing, but in the changed circumstances of the 21st century, it is time to rethink our approach.
India’s unstated space doctrine, if we try and put it into words, is to use space to promote development and the well-being and prosperity of its people. What we must do now is to include the word “security" in that sentence. In doing so, the policy goal will change from having a space presence to being a space power.
What does it mean to be a space power? Colin Gray, one of the world’s most respected scholars of strategy, says that it is “the ability to use space while denying reliable use to any foe". India already has significant ability to use space. But our ability to deny its use to an adversary is, understandably, negligible. March’s anti-satellite (A-SAT) test is the first visible sign that India is on the road to acquire counter-space capability. The newly instituted DSA will be supported by a defence space research organization (DSRO) that should create weapons to “deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy or deceive an adversary’s space capability".
At this stage of the space game, the DSA will need to consider taking up four initiatives.
First, India must protect and secure two kinds of space assets—those that belong to us and those that are crucial to our economy and national security. While satellites are usually hardened to weather the harsh extremes of the space environment, in older designs, protection against space weapons might not have been considered. Future designs must certainly factor in the risk of attack by hostile forces.
Second, in order to effectively defend our space assets, India must have the most reliable and accurate capabilities to track space objects, from debris and spacecraft to celestial bodies. Since accurate tracking forms the basis of almost every conceivable action that we might undertake—including the all-important ability to target at will—this crucial capability must be developed indigenously.
Third, for space defence to be effective, India must acquire a minimum, credible offensive capacity across the various types of space weapons, physical, electronic and cyber. The “minimum" is to ensure that we do not get overly drawn into an arms race, while ensuring that we have what it takes to deter attacks on our space assets. As India has demonstrated in the nuclear sphere, such a posture is wise, possible and works. Credibility demands that both partners and adversaries are persuaded that we have the capacity, so occasional demonstrations become necessary.
Finally, our broader space policy must acquire a new seriousness in improving launch capabilities and spacecraft design. The ability to place large satellites in geostationary orbits should become highly reliable. ISRO’s budgets must be enlarged, of course, but just as importantly, private entrants encouraged in everything from launches to specialized payloads. Like the US, China has recognized that the creative energies of private entrepreneurs can bolster its space power. Why shouldn’t we?
Five centuries ago, a few small European countries acquired global power and domination by investing in well-armed blue-water navies. On the subcontinent, the mighty Mughal empire—larger and perhaps militarily more powerful than most of them—settled for a coastal force performing constabulary duties. The failure to appreciate how much the game had changed, and how best to equip for it, proved very expensive in the long run. Let us not forget that lesson.
Nitin Pai is co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy
Opinion | What it would take for India to become a proper space power
Debris from India's anti-satellite test is still zipping about in orbit, and now we might know why
Despite numerous claims by the Indian Defense Research and Development Organisation that space debris from an anti-satellite missile test that was carried out in March 2019 would cause no threat to orbiting satellites and the International Space Station, the US space agency NASA has identified 49 remnants still orbiting Earth as of mid-July. In the latest Orbital Debris Quarterly News (ODQN) report, NASA added that it is unable to track the remaining debris pieces, which likely disintegrated over the past four months.
On 27 March 2019, India had launched an Agni-V ballistic, nuclear-capable missile in an anti-satellite test (ASAT), destroying a 740-kilogram active satellite (MicroSAT-R) that was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) just a few months prior.
The test was a demonstration of India's ability to protect its space assets if need be, and that it can destroy an active satellite moving in space that poses any threat to the country or any of its critical, space-based functions. India's show of technological prowess received praise as well as condemnation for acting irresponsibly by generating space debris.
The 5000-km range Agni-V nuclear-capable missile was launched from Kalam Island off Odisha at 9.50 am on 27 March 2019. Image: Hemant Kumar/Twitter
DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy said in April 2019 that most of the debris generated from the anti-satellite test conducted by India in March has decayed and that the rest of it will dissipate in a "short period of time".
"As I had mentioned on 6 April, the debris were to decay in a few weeks’ time. As per the information that we have already got, most of the debris has decayed. And, whatever couple of pieces are there, they will be decaying in a short period of time," Reddy said.
There could be an explanation for the "unusually long" period of time the debris is taking to fall through the atmosphere, as DRDO expected it might. On an average day, the Earth's upper atmosphere is heated and puffed up by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Orbiting satellites in low-Earth orbit experience friction as they skim over the edges of the atmosphere, producing drag. The satellites, therefore, lose speed over time, eventually falling back to Earth. Drag is good news as far as space junk in concerned, as it helps keep low-Earth orbit more or less debris-free.
The Earth is currently in the middle of a 'solar minimum' phase, which some experts are citing as the reason for the slow disintegration of the debris. There is little to no solar activity during this period — the least in the sun's 11-year solar cycle. Sunspot and solar flare activity diminish to a minimum for days on end. This affects the Earth's upper atmosphere, too, where the natural heating mechanism by UV radiation subsides. The upper atmosphere cools, and to some degree, collapses, NASA says. With lesser drag than on an average day, space junk, too, tends to linger in low-Earth orbit for longer.
The longer the fragments stay in orbit, the greater the risk to satellites belonging to several nations, as well as other expensive infrastructure, the Space Station included. Since India has no means of tracking the debris on its own yet, NASA's ODQN report remains the only credible estimate of the remaining debris. NASA, via the US Air Force, had initially claimed it was tracking 400 pieces of debris from the ASAT test, suggesting that they could even collide with the Space Station. But the agency was able to catalogue only 101 of those pieces due to the low-altitude the test was carried out in and the rapid decay of the remaining fragments, DRDO revealed in a recent statement.
The quarterly report also revealed that out of the 19,524 catalogued pieces in total orbiting the Earth, a mere 254 belong to India (1.3 percent). The US and the Commonwealth of Independent States (including Russia) have the highest fraction of (spacecrafts+rocket+debris) fragments, roughly 6,500 in all, followed by China with 4,000+.
Moving forward, India is all set to establish a network of telescopes and radars to track the debris that could pose potential risks.
Debris from India's anti-satellite test is still zipping about in orbit, and now we might know why- Technology News, Firstpost
Despite numerous claims by the Indian Defense Research and Development Organisation that space debris from an anti-satellite missile test that was carried out in March 2019 would cause no threat to orbiting satellites and the International Space Station, the US space agency NASA has identified 49 remnants still orbiting Earth as of mid-July. In the latest Orbital Debris Quarterly News (ODQN) report, NASA added that it is unable to track the remaining debris pieces, which likely disintegrated over the past four months.
On 27 March 2019, India had launched an Agni-V ballistic, nuclear-capable missile in an anti-satellite test (ASAT), destroying a 740-kilogram active satellite (MicroSAT-R) that was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) just a few months prior.
The test was a demonstration of India's ability to protect its space assets if need be, and that it can destroy an active satellite moving in space that poses any threat to the country or any of its critical, space-based functions. India's show of technological prowess received praise as well as condemnation for acting irresponsibly by generating space debris.
The 5000-km range Agni-V nuclear-capable missile was launched from Kalam Island off Odisha at 9.50 am on 27 March 2019. Image: Hemant Kumar/Twitter
DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy said in April 2019 that most of the debris generated from the anti-satellite test conducted by India in March has decayed and that the rest of it will dissipate in a "short period of time".
"As I had mentioned on 6 April, the debris were to decay in a few weeks’ time. As per the information that we have already got, most of the debris has decayed. And, whatever couple of pieces are there, they will be decaying in a short period of time," Reddy said.
There could be an explanation for the "unusually long" period of time the debris is taking to fall through the atmosphere, as DRDO expected it might. On an average day, the Earth's upper atmosphere is heated and puffed up by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Orbiting satellites in low-Earth orbit experience friction as they skim over the edges of the atmosphere, producing drag. The satellites, therefore, lose speed over time, eventually falling back to Earth. Drag is good news as far as space junk in concerned, as it helps keep low-Earth orbit more or less debris-free.
The Earth is currently in the middle of a 'solar minimum' phase, which some experts are citing as the reason for the slow disintegration of the debris. There is little to no solar activity during this period — the least in the sun's 11-year solar cycle. Sunspot and solar flare activity diminish to a minimum for days on end. This affects the Earth's upper atmosphere, too, where the natural heating mechanism by UV radiation subsides. The upper atmosphere cools, and to some degree, collapses, NASA says. With lesser drag than on an average day, space junk, too, tends to linger in low-Earth orbit for longer.
The longer the fragments stay in orbit, the greater the risk to satellites belonging to several nations, as well as other expensive infrastructure, the Space Station included. Since India has no means of tracking the debris on its own yet, NASA's ODQN report remains the only credible estimate of the remaining debris. NASA, via the US Air Force, had initially claimed it was tracking 400 pieces of debris from the ASAT test, suggesting that they could even collide with the Space Station. But the agency was able to catalogue only 101 of those pieces due to the low-altitude the test was carried out in and the rapid decay of the remaining fragments, DRDO revealed in a recent statement.
The quarterly report also revealed that out of the 19,524 catalogued pieces in total orbiting the Earth, a mere 254 belong to India (1.3 percent). The US and the Commonwealth of Independent States (including Russia) have the highest fraction of (spacecrafts+rocket+debris) fragments, roughly 6,500 in all, followed by China with 4,000+.
Moving forward, India is all set to establish a network of telescopes and radars to track the debris that could pose potential risks.
Debris from India's anti-satellite test is still zipping about in orbit, and now we might know why- Technology News, Firstpost
Numbers too few, not saying not dangerous but still far far better than others tests.
jewel of this page is this pic above! Marvelous! What a state of art. Sharp and maverick design.
Wow when i saw the tests video for the first time ,it looked so tiny but woow its huge
Space part of a grand strategy for India, China: Report warns of its growing militarisation
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