India Developing 'Kill Vehicle' to Knock Enemy Satellites Out of the Sky

Its just 1 more step toward Gravity assisted Orbital Delivery system satellites to go into orbit. Nothing like Ortillary to take out the nuke plants of terrorist nations.

I still can not fathom why a respectable, or so I thought, publication allows articles to be posted on its website that are quite rude to other people around the world who are experimenting with technologies.

I mean, it probably isn't what they should be spending their money on but who are we to tell them otherwise. They are a major ally and someone we want on our side at all costs.

I find it obtuse and severely lacking in journalistic integrity.

Bonus points for the drawing from 1984 though. I wonder if that is to scale...

--GTO--

I didn't think the article was rude at all, but of course that's my opinion.

I too fail to see how the article is rude...perhaps you could enlighten us.

I believe it is in the wording; making it out to be a goof or something.

Like, "Hey haha, look at those goofy Indians with their baby space program and their lofty ideas and goals."

I just find it tactless.

--GTO--

Mostly found in the 2nd paragraph for me, but whatever. Maybe my brain is fried and the 13th hour of my workday has taken its toll and I find the slightest hint of sarcasm and humor maddening.

Could be the case. Extra work fewer employees has to equal more production and profit. Only to an extent boss, only to an extent...

--GTO--

I see what you mean about the second paragraph. Using "like" in such an informal and sarcastic tone does portray some sense of "obtuseness". But that does not mean it is not justified at some level. What good does simply announcing a system that you may one day create do? I think the Indian announcement was more of a diplomatic move rather than a scientific announcement. To some degree it could show that in the long run India sees China as its largest threat, not the weak and war-torn Pakistan, as the author correctly states. It is also symbolic of India's modernization, as they compete with the other space age great powers in battlefield: Space.

I get what GTO is talking about. I thought the author's 2nd paragraph is obviously sarcastic and slightly demeaning to India which is clearly seen in the sentence: "Neither the laser nor the kill vehicle actually exists yet, but be forewarned: India will put a dent in your space capabilities at a time and place as yet undetermined."

I can't really comment on the whether the author's attitude is warranted or not but it really does bug me when journalists write articles that have subtle tones of superiority when it comes to foreign nations.

You're right that the article is sarcastic. In the nature of, "look at those guys they now have ambitions of satellite warfare".

A little more diligence on the author's part would reveal that India has proven satellite launchers, the capability to put satellites into geostationary orbit, one of the world's largest networks of remote sensing satellites, and recently orbited a satellite around the moon, with a probe landing on it for good measure.

In other words, the technological capabilities are there, already. Yes, it needs repurposing existing hardware, and significant testing, but make no mistake, India's not playing with Legos.

It would be rather unfortunate if India starts developing space warfare weapons. There is so much positive and good to be done through the use of space technology, it is a pity that countries like India, China and the US want to take destruction outside our atmosphere. Besides, millions of pieces of space debris from "killed satellites" will make space launches and travel hazardous and potentially impossible for future generations. Is this what we want?

They should put a satellite up that shoots emps, that way you could knockout satellites and affect certian areas of a country, or battlefield.

I applaud any country who is spending their money on research in any field, especially space programs. For far too long it has only been a hand-full of countries spending all the money which limits what can be explored and accomplished.

A consortium of countries AND privatization is necessary and many more people should be involved. Spread the wealth and increase the knowledge!

--GTO--

I think you missed the big point arming our skies with weapons regardless of who does it considered wrong. Specially now days with how well hackers have proven that they can break into defense systems. All they would have to do is hack the least secure countries satellites to wreak havoc on a global scale.
Consider not just from a weaponization stand point, but from one about stopping communications. You are talking global economy interruption in some case.
From a weapons stand point lets be realistic I would not put it past the great power countries to get weapons into space without mention of it taking place. If someone were to have something like that they could use them to strike anywhere in the world. The weakness to a satellite system is that there isn't a person with a key sitting there 24/7 to make sure it can't go off on it's own.

YES this is so cool i wonder who india is going to shoot first and what excuse obamas gonna pull out of the hat for nuking india for it. lol

i wonder if India will outsource the jobs to us?

@uncleiroh13

Now that statement is downright ill informed. They are a major ally and a nuclear power. We would not bomb them under any circumstances outside of them doing something like going rogue (not a Palin pun).

Although I agree the weaponizing space is not a great idea, it is in fact, inevitable. I dont think there is anyone with some sense that thinks at the very least the U.S. and Russia dont have weaponized satellites.

That would be very naive.

--GTO--

space weapons dont quite sit well with me, i agree w/ xlndr, we cant keep watch 24/7 and accidents DO happen and there can be programming errors that might make an accident happen which could disrupt countrys in unimaginable ways

@uncleiroh13- i dont believe obama is gonna nuke an alli unless they start an open war with us and even then its unlikely he would "nuke" them

Since knocking a satellite out of the sky is a trivial exercise, India can have the capability in less than a year if they want it.

Satellites travel in known orbits at high speeds, and do not make evasive maneuvers (some have very limited station keeping ability, but nothing that will get them out of the way of a kinetic delivery system.

Mount a claymore on top of a satellite delivery system. Calculate your flight time, and when the target satellite will be overhead (trivial). Then launch the vehicle to intersect, and at the appropriate time, detonate the claymore. When the satellite flys through the ball bearings, one or two are almost certain to hit. Scratch one satellite.

Every technical college in India can build one of these babies, and my guess is they have a million people who can do the necessary math.

lol i was going to write a huge comment but reading ur is sooooo funny u should take a step back and read it 1.) its not insulting 2.) wats so wrong with indea having these ambicous ideas

The author should get his facts right - Pakistan is not "across the Himalayas" from India. The mountain range is to the North of both nations.

hobbes.of.calvin should learn to read before accusing the author of not having his facts right.

Why would you think the author meant Pakistan?

First, he comes right out and states that it's NOT because of Pakistan.

Then he describes the country as the WORLD'S LARGEST military-minded single-party ruled "republic": Pakistan is not the world's largest anything (aside from possibly failed state). Can you think of any "world's largest" countries in the region? Perhaps, unlike Pakistan, a country with a larger military than India? Perhaps, unlike Pakistan, which has numerous political parties, a country ruled by a single party? Perhaps a country that really is across the Himalayas from India? Perhaps a country with "republic" in its name? Note the quotation marks around republic: (hint, it's supposed to be irony) this country, once again unlike Pakistan, is far from actually being a republic.

Dear xbhaskarx,

He's not going to get it.

Dear hobbes,

The author is referring to PRC. People's 'Republic' of China. China. He means China. China is what he is talking about. NOT Pakistan.

People should be very careful talking about things about China. There can and will (Some day soon.)be consequences from the most innocent suggestions.

We already have alarming amounts of space debris in the zone where satellites reside, and all in a short 50 years since Sputnik.

How rapidly will this problem escalate when we start blasting each other's satellites into pieces?

I get what GTO is talking about. I thought the author's 2nd paragraph is obviously sarcastic and slightly demeaning to India which is clearly seen in the sentence: "Neither the laser nor the kill vehicle actually exists yet, but be forewarned: