India shoots down satellite

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has shot down a satellite in space with an anti-satellite missile.

The Indian Prime Minister hailed the test as a major breakthrough in its space program.

Modi made the announcement in a television address to the nation. He said India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China.

Such capabilities have raised fears of the weaponization of space and setting off a race between rival powers.

India has had a space program for years, making earth imaging satellites and launch capabilities as a cheaper alternative to Western programs.

The first anti-satellite test had taken place in 1959 by the United States, when satellites themselves were rare and new.

Via Reuters