India has gotten into the race. Indian Prime Minister Modi announced that they knocked out a satellite in low Earth orbit which was one of their own and then declared itself a space-age power alongside Russia, China and the United States.
According to Indian officials, this is part of a large scale program to create anti-missile defense system for the nation.
According to Prime Minister Modi, India's space program does not aim to trigger an arms race but will allow the country to enter the list of space powers alongwith US, Russia & China.
According to experts, New Delhi primarily demonstrate its technological capabilities to its potential adversaries namely Pakistan and China. Pakistan after the reports of the successful testing of an Indian anti satellite missile called for the prevention of an arms race in space.
In 2007, China conducted the largest test of this technology in history. A rocket hit a satellite at an altitude of 865 Kilometers above the Earth's surface.
So far, there has been no official statement by the US government. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick condemned the test though saying it shows why the United States needs to develop a space force.
Satellite systems are regularly used to guide missiles and drones their destination, facilitate communication between soldiers on the battlefield and spy on adversaries, given how critical space assets are for national security.
It's not surprising that military spend a lot of time developing ways to destroy their enemie's satellites.
