| Summary/Abstract |
The Ninth Century Chinese alchemists discovered black powder while searching for the elixir of life. this accidental discovery led to experiments for weapons such as bombs, cannon, incendiary arrows and rocket-propelled fire arrows.1 The Chinese were the first to develop a rocket around 1212 AD and used them in a war with Mongols. During the battle of Kai-Keng, they used “arrows of flying fire”. This arrow was a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket.2 From development of simple rockets to anti-satellite weapons, China has progressed rapidly in its aerospace offensive capabilities and the anti-satellite test carried out by China in Jan 2007 demonstrated that the development of anti-satellite (ASAT) technologies created an environment in which civil and military satellites increasingly came under the risk of attack. In response, Dr. Saraswat stated that India had “all the building blocks necessary” for an anti-satellite weapon. The propulsion module and kill vehicle existed in principle; the weapon could be developed in totality soon.3 Yet, the moot question is whether India is ready to face the rapid Chinese modernization onslaught?
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