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India declines comment on NASA's anti-satellite criticism

India declines comment on NASA's anti-satellite criticism

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-45 is seen lifting from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh state, around 117 kilometres (72 miles) north east of Chennai, India, Monday, April 1, 2019. Photo: AP

NEW DELHI: India has declined comment on a statement by US space officials that India's recent test of an anti-satellite weapon has created debris that could threaten the International Space Station. India's Defence Ministry spokesman Aman Anand says there is no official response to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine's statement at a town hall event in Washington on Monday. Bridenstine said in shooting down one of its own satellites with a rocket last week, India had left debris high enough in orbit to pose a risk to the International Space Station. India's External Affairs Ministry in a statement after the March 27 test said that whatever debris generated would decay and fall back to Earth within weeks as the test was in the lower atmosphere.