Space And Spin

Mission Shakti is a major success, but giving it a political spin was not prudent.

- Pradip R. Sagar

On the night of January 24, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched a set of micro-satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. For the next two months, top missile men at the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) in Hyderabad burnt midnight oil readying themselves for another launch. Finally, at 11:10am on March 27, they launched a missile from the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam centre in Odisha, destroying an ISRO micro-satellite three minutes later.

Barely an hour later, the implications of this ‘routine launch’ became clear, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation. “This is a big moment for India, something all of us should be proud of,” said Modi. “We are capable of defence not just on land, water and air, but now also in space. I congratulate all scientists who have made this possible and made India a much stronger nation.”

Modi said the scientists had shot down a low earth orbit satellite (a satellite at an altitude of 2,000km or less) using an ASAT (anti-satellite) missile. The operation, named Mission Shakti, made India the fourth nation—after the US, Russia and China—to achieve the feat. The destroyed satellite had an altitude of 300 kilometres.

A political slugfest, however, soon overshadowed the big achievement. The opposition questioned the timing of Modi’s announcement, as campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections was in full swing and the Election Commission’s model code of conduct was in effect. Many scientists, too, mused on the advisability of conducting the test and publicising it now.