Kosmos 1408, a defunct Soviet-era satellite launched in 1982, was in orbit just above the International Space Station at 480km. It was blown up on 14-15 November.
India proved its A-SAT capability on 27 March when it knocked off one of its own satellites 300 km in space. However, the Chinese threat still persists.
India Wednesday successfully test-fired an anti-satellite missile, becoming the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to possess such capability.
IndiGo showed how a single point of failure can ripple across a sector. In defence, where there is no external fallback, the consequences are far more serious.
With the US-India trade deal yet to get done, rupee depreciation may be helping to mitigate India’s loss of competitiveness. The other problem is extreme despondence among overseas equity investors.
Of the total package, $649 million will be utilised for additional hardware, software, and support services, and the remaining for Major Defence Equipment (MDE).
Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.
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