Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are basking in the limelight after being publicly lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday for successfully conducting an anti-satellite (ASAT) test, a capability that only the US, Russia and China had demonstrated so far. A key role in this achievement has been that of the DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy. An acclaimed navigation specialist, Reddy has personally led the development of systems that guide a missile, itself travelling at hypersonic velocity, to a satellite 300 km away that is travelling through space at almost 30,000 km per hour.
Even