Space Shakti | Defence

On January 24 this year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a military satellite, Microsat-R, weighing around 750 kg, into a low earth orbit of 300 km in space from its launchpad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, without revealing too many details of its configuration or purpose. ISRO scientists continued to monitor its progress as they do with the country's other space assets.

There was, however, another scientific agency, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), that was also tracking the satellite for a vastly different purpose. In mid-2016, the Narendra Modi government had approved a top-secret project to develop an A-SAT or Anti-Satellite missile. A close-knit team headed by DRDO chief G. Satheesh Reddy worked