First debris pieces from the Indian ASAT test of 27 March catalogued

First debris pieces from the Indian ASAT test of 27 March catalogued(sattrackcam.blogspot.com)

40 points by scottie_m 7 years ago | 17 comments

moh_maya 7 years ago |

Previous discussion on HN [1].

Re. the orbit, note that this was a test in LEO, at 300 km orbit; all the debris will, in relatively short order, be de-orbited. [2]

While I will not indulge in the whataboutism of CN & USA conducting these, one potential strategic reason for India to test was to ensure a their perspective was heard at the (then) upcoming discussions on the "Space Peace Treaty" [3]. It's tempting to say such symbols of act & intent do not matter, but they force others to take you seriously & engage with you. India was excluded from the NSG and many other such programs in the past.

FWIW, please do not trivialize the realities & complexities of geopolitics by simplistic moral grand-standing. While undesirable, there were real domestic & international reasons to conduct the test. To treat such a decision as mere posturing, or some sort of crude symbolism, ignores the context within which such decisions are taken, and presumes that the technocrats who took these decisions did so unmindful of the consequences.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19590936 [2] https://in.reuters.com/article/us-india-satellite/india-says... [3] https://phys.org/news/2019-03-space-peace-treaty-consensus.h...

walrus01 7 years ago |

The really worrisome thing about this is that they seemingly just had to do their test vs a polar orbit/highly inclined orbit satellite. The odds of killing something in a polar orbit in the Iridium NeXT satellite network are non-zero. This is because the Iridium satellite orbits and the debris orbits all converge over the poles.

There's a lot of important non telecom related things that are in highly inclined orbits, such as earth observation satellites.

russdill 7 years ago | |

Highly inclined orbits don't converge any more than any other orbits converge. Orbits with low inclinations also intersect just as often assuming they shifted slightly. There isn't anything special about high or low inclinations, it just tells you what the Earth is doing in respect to the satellite.

walrus01 7 years ago | | |

90 degree inclination all converge over the poles. The dead Russian satellite that collided with an iridium satellite a few years ago is a good example.

basicplus2 7 years ago | |

It is rather concerning that your comment was voted down. I cannot see any valid reason for this.

swiley 7 years ago | |

Wow that's pretty irresponsible! How did they

1) think that was a good idea

and

2) get away with it

dilawar 7 years ago | | |

Elections are going on and current ruling party had a knack for weapons (importing and testing). They think it gets them some votes.

And if China can get away with it...

panini_tech 7 years ago | | |

The Chinese do this all the time and nobody has the nerve to even report it in the asian or western media. India has to do it to safeguard it against chinese agression. why did you thin the US got away with it? why did you think the Russians & Chinese got away with it. Self Defence. Try to answer who drew first blood and the finger points to someone.

morsmodr 7 years ago | | |

If country A gets a technological power by being first to it and while doing so being completely irresponsible for it - not one bats an eyelid. Why? Because it makes that country the big bully in the room.

US is country A here and has done this with Nuclear Strikes on Japan, worse debris through ASAT testing and a bunch of other such technological advancements. Why would a big bully in the room play the holier-than-though card later on? It is a mix of making the mistake and regretting it, but also serves as a way to ensure no more countries get that power. As this could result in lesser opposition power in global politics. For there to be balance in global politics, it is not right for just the first 1 or 2 countries to have vast technological advantage.

The new thing people from big bully countries have come up with is the term 'whataboutism' which is nothing but another ruse of moral high-ground. Just by telling others that they indulge in 'whataboutism', they intend to shut them down. Reality is that no country is good, not a single one when it comes to the game of power. Because you have to be equal to your enemy to deter them from attacking. This is the unfortunate truth no one likes to hear.

If Country A shares its knowledge with other countries, then there would be no need for others to do their own testing. But will they do that? Despite all this, testing done by India results in shortest amount of time the debris lives in space. By my oh my, the superior moral ground card played by everyone is extremely cringe-worthy. India had to do it to toughen itself up against its neighbor China. Do you know China also occupies a part of Kashmir and made it their own (mostly for the sake of aerial advantage with the Himalayas is my thinking)