The Head of NASA, Jim Bridenstine says India's negative activities are not compatible with future of human spaceflight.

Addressing employees of National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington, Bridenstine said India shot down a low-orbiting satellite in a missile test to prove it was among the world’s advanced space powers.

He said destruction of satellite a ‘terrible thing’ that had created 400 pieces of orbital debris and led to new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

He added “that kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human space flight. It's unacceptable and NASA needs to be very clear about what its impact to us is."

Explaining that not all pieces of debris from the ASAT missile test was big enough of track, Bridenstine said NASA had tracked approximately 60 pieces, which were around 10cm or more in size. Of these, around 24 pieces were going above the apogee of the International Space Station. Bridenstine noted as a result of the Indian ASAT missile test, the risk of collision for the International Space Station had increased by 44 per cent over 10 days.