In the morning time when our PM Mr. Narendra Modi tweeted that he will be giving a message to the country in between 11:45 AM to 12:00 PM whole country was getting excited about his tweet and what message was he going to share to the nation. Many were making expectation of surgical strike , some were making of demonetisation. But giving an “important message”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that India has successfully tested its first anti-satellite missile system, code-named ‘Mission Shakti’. “India has entered its name as an elite space power. An anti-satellite weapon ASAT, successfully targeted a live satellite on a low earth orbit (LEO),” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister also stated that shooting down a LEO satellite is a rare achievement and was completed successfully within three minutes of launch.

What is Mission Shakti

The mission was led by the Defence Research & Development Organisation inorder to strengthening India’s security in space as well.

The LEO-Low Earth Orbit satellite was orbiting at an altitude of 300KM

And India’s action was not directed against any country & no international laws or treaties were breached.

The mission as a crucial and complex and it was conducted at extremely high speed with remarkable precision. The accuracy and timing was outstanding and depicts the success of our country and its scientists.

What are LEO Satellites:

LEO or Low Earth Orbit satellites are the satellites used for the telecommunication that revolve around a distance of 2000KM above the surface of the earth. These are te satellites which are used for the data communication, instant e-mail and video conferencing etc. These satellites moves at such a high speed and are not fixed in space in relation to the earth they have their different speed.

These satellites are also used for providing special services in the remote areas and places where network building is quite difficult.

LEO satellites are used for the observation or spying as they are closer to the earth surface. In many operations it is also used.

Difference between GEO Satellites:

GEO or Geosycronous equatorial Orbit or Geostationary satellites are basically used for monitoring , weather forecasting, satellite radio and television. Also GEO satellites have a stronger signal capacity than LEO satellites . Also they do not orbit hence they provide a much better signals as they are stationary, though they are much bigger in comparison with the LEO satellites but their signal capacity is better than LEO.

Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic military purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has yet been utilised in warfare, a few nations have shot down their own satellites to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities in a show of force. Only the United States, Russia, China, and India have demonstrated this capability successfully.