U.S. official: Chinese test missile obliterates satellite

Powered by A "Kill Vehicle" carrying missile successfully destroyed an orbiting satellite 537 miles above Earth on the 11th, by China, the first after three failed tests. This could undermine China's relations with the West and pose a threat to military sattelites. US has been able in ASAT(Anti-Sattelite) program since mid-1980s. They have formally lodged a diplomatic protest, joined by Canada and Australia. John Pike of globalsecurity.org, a Web site compiling worldwide security informations expressed concern, "If we,for instance,got into a conflict over Taiwan, one of the first things they'd probably do would be to shoot down all of our lower Earth-orbit spy satellites putting out our eyes". "The thing that is surprising and disturbing is that (China) has chosen this moment to demonstrate a military capability that can only be aimed at the US", he said. Click the following to access the sent link: U.S. official: Chinese test missile obliterates satellite - CNN.com* Get your EMAIL THIS Browser Button and use it to email information from any Web site. *This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/01/18/china.missile/index.html