Former US Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch has said India’s 2019 anti-satellite missile test caught personnel at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) off guard, prompting him to contact the US Embassy and seek an assessment of debris risks to American reconnaissance satellites.
In the supplied interview clip, Grusch said he was on duty at the NRO operations centre when India destroyed one of its own satellites during Mission Shakti. He described the missile test as unexpected.
“They shot down one of their own satellites,” Grusch said. “And they didn’t tell us.”
Grusch said his concern was whether debris from the interception could threaten satellites operated by the NRO. He recalled asking orbital analysts to calculate the debris field and determine whether any spacecraft needed to be manoeuvred.
He described his role at the time as a reservist serving as backup director of intelligence at the operations centre and leading the director’s briefing team. After consulting analysts, he said, he went to brief the director.
The clip presents Grusch’s recollection of the response inside the operations centre. It does not establish the full extent of any advance communication between the Indian and US governments.
What happened during Mission Shakti
India conducted Mission Shakti on March 27, 2019, using a missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The interceptor was launched from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha and struck an Indian satellite in low Earth orbit in a “hit-to-kill” interception, according to the Defence Ministry’s announcement that day. DRDO said tracking data confirmed that the test met its objectives.
NASA’s subsequent account identified the destroyed spacecraft as Microsat-R. ISRO describes Microsat-R as an imaging satellite launched on January 24, 2019, into an intended orbit of 274 km. That official description differs from Grusch’s reference in the clip to a defunct weather satellite.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the test demonstrated an indigenous capability to intercept a satellite and placed India alongside the United States, Russia and China among countries with that capability. It said the test was intended to verify India’s ability to safeguard its space assets and was not directed against another country.
The debris record
India’s initial briefing said the test had been conducted at a low altitude and that debris generated would fall back to Earth within weeks.
NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office later reported that more than 400 fragments had initially been tracked by US Space Surveillance Network sensors. Its August 2019 newsletter said 101 pieces had entered the public satellite catalogue and 49 remained in orbit as of July 15 that year.
NASA recorded the satellite’s orbit at the time of destruction as approximately 265–294 km in altitude. The agency said the low altitude and rapid orbital decay complicated the tracking and cataloguing of fragments.
India’s stated position and later US policy
In its March 2019 briefing, the external affairs ministry said India had no intention of entering an arms race in outer space and opposed its weaponisation. It also maintained that the test did not violate an international treaty or obligation binding on India.
The United States announced in April 2022 that it would not conduct destructive, direct-ascent anti-satellite missile tests.
Responding to that announcement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said such tests were incompatible with human spaceflight and the future of the space environment. He cited a Russian test conducted several months earlier that had threatened astronauts, cosmonauts and other spacecraft.