Why the world is unhappy with India's anti-satellite missile test

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On 27 March, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country had successfully launched an anti-satellite missile in low Earth orbit (LEO). With this, India becomes only the fourth country to test an ASAT weapon – used to attack enemy satellites or intercepting ballistic missiles – after the United States, China and Russia.

Modi said that this test – dubbed Mission Shakti – was not aimed at anyone and did not violate any international law:

Today's anti-satellite missile (A-SAT) will provide the country with a new force in terms of security and a vision of travel development. I want to assure the world today that this has not been directed against anyone.

India has always been against the arms race in outer space and this policy has not changed. Today's test does not violate any kind of international law or conventional agreements. We want to use modern technologies for the protection and well-being of 130 million citizens of the country.

However, companies and space agencies around the world have not been satisfied with India's test. Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, a private organization dedicated to promoting the peaceful use of resources in outer space, asked about Twitter If companies plan to boycott the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in India to send a message to the nation. He then clarified that he was simply suggesting that businesses think about the role they want to play by encouraging responsible behavior in the space.

Planet Labs, a longtime partner of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), condemned the test and recommended that the space environment be used only for peaceful purposes.

US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan indirectly disapproved of the mission, saying, "We all live in space. Do not spoil it.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine also criticized the Shakti mission and said the space debris caused by the test posed a threat to the International Space Station (ISS). He said that 24 debris identified by NASA had exceeded the peak of the ISS and had increased the risk of impact on the station by 44% over a period of 10 days after the test.

In response, Tapan Misra, senior advisor to the president of ISRO, said Tuesday that the experiment was not an explosion, but rather a "bullet", and that the resulting debris will burn in six months :

It's about 300 kilometers away in the area where the wind pressure is low, but that's enough to reduce them to ashes in six months.

Daniel Porras, researcher on space security at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, also expressed a similar view:

The Chinese demonstration was carried out at 800 km and was largely condemned because of the resulting space debris, which will probably remain in orbit for decades or more. The demonstration of India having occurred at 300 km, the debris will probably not be in orbit within a few months. For this reason, the reaction has been much less.

While India has joined an elite club of countries with ASAT weapons, the development has upset agencies and governments around the world. There is no direct impact at the moment, but the image of India as a peaceful nation trying to make scientific progress in space has taken a hit. We will now need to closely monitor the international space community's approach to India.

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