Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the downing of the satellite last Wednesday, a test launch that put India in an exclusive group of nations — along with the United States, China and Russia — with the capability to destroy targets in space.

Image India said its launch was carried out in the lower atmopshere “to ensure that there is no space debris.” But NASA says it has identified 400 pieces of orbital debris from the test. Credit... Indian Space Research Organization/EPA, via Shutterstock

“India stands tall as a space power!” Mr. Modi tweeted after the announcement. He said the test had been “indigenous,” accomplished entirely by Indians. Scientists estimate that the satellite India destroyed was moving around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the test — called Mission Shakti, the Hindi word for “power” — had been carried out in the lower atmosphere “to ensure that there is no space debris.” The statement said that if the test created debris, it would “decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.”

But Mr. Bridenstine said NASA had identified 400 pieces of orbital debris from the test, including about 60 trackable pieces at least 10 centimeters in size. Two dozen pieces were identified above the highest point of the International Space Station’s orbit. The station serves as a research laboratory and has hosted astronauts from 18 countries since it was launched into orbit in 1998.

“The good thing is, it’s low enough in Earth orbit that over time this will all dissipate,” Mr. Bridenstine said of the debris.