Another significant milestone for the Nation .. Today expectations rose high and anxiety hung
in air as our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji tweeted that he would be addressing the
nation at around 11:45 am to 12.00 noon with an important message. "Do
watch the address on television, radio or social media," he had said
without indicating what it could be about.
Nation has moved forward long after ‘Aryabhatta’ launched
on 19.4.1975 from Kapustin Yar, a Russian rocket launch and development. It was
built by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The launch came from an
agreement between India and the Soviet Union directed by UR Rao and signed in
1972. It allowed the USSR to use Indian ports for tracking ships and launching
vessels in return for launching Indian satellites. Aryabhatta is the first man
made (artificial) Indian satellite. The
satellite returned to the Earth's atmosphere on 11 Feb 1992.
A Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is an
Earth-centered orbit with an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 mi) or less
(approximately one third of the radius of Earth), or with at least 11.25
periods per day (an orbital period of 128 minutes or less) and an eccentricity
less than 0.25. Most of the manmade
objects in space are in LEO. The LEO
region is defined by some sources as the region in space that LEO orbits occupy. The International Space Station conducts
operations in LEO. All crewed space stations to date, as well as the majority
of satellites, have been in LEO.
Today as most of
the Nation was glued to the media, PM Modiji began his address to the nation. He stated that an anti-satellite missile
destroyed a live satellite in 3 minutes ~ and with this the Nation has entered its name as an elite space power.
An anti-satellite weapon A-SAT, successfully targeted a live satellite on a low
earth orbit. 'Mission Shakti' operation was a difficult target to achieve which
was completed successfully within three minutes of launch. India has registered
herself as a space power today; till now only US, Russia and China have
achieved this; now India is the 4th country to achieve this feat: said our
honourable PM
Today, we have enough
satellites that are contributing in various segments such as agriculture,
disaster management, communication, weather, navigation etc; PM Modiji added
that – “I assure the world community that our new prowess is not against anyone”. The A-SAT missile will give new strength to
India's space programme. Mission Shakti is special
for 2 reasons -- India is only the fourth country to acquire such a specialised
and modern capability, and the entire effort is indigenous.
"India stands tall as a
space power! It will make India stronger, even more secure and will further
peace and harmony," PM Modi said in a tweet after his address to the
nation.
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT)
are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic
military purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems, with
others in development or design. Any state that manages to get the upper hand
in this frontier can be expected to dominate the outcome of any war. A state
with command over space-based assets can jam enemy satellites or destroy them. The
three major powers-the US, Russia and China-have proven ASAT capabilities while
several other space-faring nations are working on securing such assets.
The foremost aspect linked to
an ASAT weapon is the type. There are a variety of ASAT capabilities that range
from cyber-attacks on space systems, Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) explosion
devices, directedenergy weapons and targeted missiles for destruction of
satellites.
Today is an important milestone
with India becoming super power capability of ASAT made indigenously. Great !!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
27th Mar 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment