NEW DELHI — India’s longest-range, nuclear-weapons-capable Agni-V ballistic missile is scheduled to be tested for a second time on Sept. 15. The missile, designed to hit targets at distances of up to 5,000 km (3,100 mi.), will be test-fired from Wheeler Island off the eastern coast of Odisha. Agni-V was first test-fired in April 2012, with the guidance systems — one of the most critical elements in determining the efficiency of a missile — working as expected.
NEW DELHI — India on Sept. 11 unveiled its Mars Orbiter, which is due to launch later this year to search the red planet’s atmosphere for methane, considered a “precursor chemical” for life. “The Mars orbiter is in the final stages of testing for launch between Oct. 21 and Nov. 19 on board a rocket with five scientific instruments to conduct various experiments after a nine-month voyage to the red planet,” says S.K. Shivkumar, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) satellite center director.
