India, China developing technology to kill satellite in orbit

London, Jan. 14 (ANI): India and China are simultaneously developing technology that could be used to kill satellites in orbit.

Recently, an official from India's Ministry of Defence announced that the country is developing a "kill vehicle" with laser vision that could home in on and destroy satellites in orbit.

And on Tuesday, China announced it had carried out a successful missile defence test the previous day. While China did not release details of the test, it said it involved a missile interceptor.

The New Scientist quoted Jeffrey Lewis, an analyst for the New America Foundation based in Washinton, DC, as saying that there is not much difference between missile defence and anti-satellite technology.

Both involve missiles, sometimes called "kinetic energy" interceptors, which can be precisely targeted at fast-moving objects in order to slam into and destroy them, he said.

India has made its intentions clear by saying that the work on anti-satellite technology as part of the country's own missile defence programme, carried out against a backdrop of military tensions with Pakistan.

As for the Chinese missile defence test, it is natural to wonder whether it was intended at least in part as a continuation of its work on anti-satellite technology.

While the spotlight is on India and China this week, Lewis points out that these two countries are not acting in isolation.

"The US has pioneered (hit-to-kill) technology - and encouraged its spread to allies like Israel, Japan and Taiwan among others. Now China and India are racing to join the club," he writes. (ANI)