Mission Shakti — India anti-satellite test (March 2019)

On 27 March 2019, India's Defence Research and Development Organisation destroyed the Indian satellite Microsat-R with a ground-launched interceptor in a test designated Mission Shakti. The intercept took place at roughly 283 km altitude, making India the fourth nation — after the United States, Russia, and China — to demonstrate a hit-to-kill anti-satellite capability.

A deliberately low altitude India stated that it chose a low intercept altitude specifically so that the resulting debris would re-enter the atmosphere quickly rather than linger in orbit. Most of the catalogued fragments did decay within weeks to months. However, tracking organisations noted that some pieces were thrown into higher arcs that briefly crossed the altitude of the International Space Station, and NASA publicly criticised the test as creating an unnecessary, if short-lived, hazard.

Why it still matters Compared with the 2007 Chinese test against Fengyun-1C — which happened near 865 km and produced thousands of long-lived fragments — Mission Shakti was far less polluting because of its low altitude. It remains an important data point in the debate over the use of kinetic anti-satellite weapons and the long-term sustainability of low Earth orbit.