India has all the building blocks for an anti-satellite capability - Interview

Days after the milestone first test of India's strategic ballistic missile Agni-V, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat sat down for a detailed interview with Senior Editor Sandeep Unnithan.

The DRDO chief explains why the missile is a technological breakthrough and how it gives India the capability to target satellites in space.

Why is the Agni-V different from the previous Agni missiles?

Dr. VK Saraswat during an interview with India Today. Photo by T. Narayan.

VKS: Agni-V is a completely new missile system. It is a 21st-century missile because of the technologies used and a game changer because of its strategic deterrence value. The missile went from drawing board to launch pad in just over three years. The government sanctioned the Agni-V project in December 2008. We began design work on it in April 2009. The missile was on the launch pad on March 14, 2012 and launched five days later.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/agni-v-drdo-chief-dr-vijay-kumar-saraswat-interview/1/186248.html

"India has all the building blocks for an anti-satellite capability" : India News - India Today

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): Aim for 2 Astronauts in Space

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to send two astronauts to space within six to seven years, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

"ISRO plans to send two astronauts into space in six to seven years," he said after launching a mobile telemedicine unit at Muttom in Kanyakumari district.

He said India was among the leading countries in the world in space research, designing the most modern satellites in keeping with latest advances in technology

These satellites are very helpful in communication and distance, he said.

Radhakrishnan said the Nano satellites designed by students of Satyabama University, Chennai, would be installed in the PSLV rocket, to be launched in June or July.