US to try to shoot down spy satellite
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 11 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Taking a page from Hollywood science fiction, the
Pentagon said Thursday it will try to shoot down a dying, bus-sized
U.S. spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel on a collision course with
the Earth.
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a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean.
The dramatic maneuver may well trigger international concerns, and
stressing that it does not signal the start of a new American
anti-satellite weapons program.
Military and administration officials said the satellite is carrying
fuel called hydrazine that could injure or even kill people who are
near it when it hits the ground. That reason alone, they said,
convinced President Bush to order the shoot-down.
"That is the only thing that breaks it out, that is worthy of taking
extraordinary measures," said Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Pentagon briefing.
the satellite, which will be about 150 miles up when the shot is
fired. The window of opportunity for taking the satellite down,
Cartwright said, opens in three or four days and lasts for about seven
or eight days.
"We'll take one shot and assess," he said. "This is the first time
we've used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft."
Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey discounted comparisons
to an anti-satellite test conducted by the Chinese last year that
triggered criticism from the U.S. and other countries.
"This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings,"
Jeffrey said. "Specifically, there was enough of a risk for the
president to be quite concerned about human life."
There might also be unstated military aims, some outside the
administration suggested.
Similar spacecraft re-enter the atmosphere regularly and break up into
pieces, said Ivan Oelrich, vice president for strategic security
programs at the Federation of American Scientists. He said, "One could
be forgiven for asking if this is just an excuse to test an
anti-satellite weapon."
A key issue when China shot down its defunct weather satellite was
that it created an enormous amount of space debris.
"All of the debris from this encounter, as carefully designed as it
is, will be down at most within weeks, and most of it will be down
within the first couple of orbits afterward," said Jeffrey. "There's
an enormous difference to spacefaring nations in ... those two
things."
He and others dismissed suggestions that this was simply an attempt by
the U.S. to flex its muscles, and that officials were overstating the
toxic fuel threat.
Left alone, the satellite would be expected to hit Earth during the
first week of March. About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft would be
expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and
would scatter debris over several hundred miles.
If the missile shot is successful, officials said, much of the debris
would burn up as it fell. They said they could not estimate how much
would make it through the atmosphere. They said the largest piece that
would survive re-entry would be the spherical fuel tank, which is
The goal, however, is to hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the
amount of fuel that returns to Earth, Cartwright said.
A Navy missile known as Standard Missile 3 would be fired at the spy
satellite in an attempt to intercept it just before it re-enters
Earth's atmosphere. It would be "next to impossible" to hit the
satellite after that because of atmospheric disturbances, he said.
Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched
in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost
immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a
sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.
Software associated with the Standard Missile 3 has been modified to
enhance the chances of the missile's sensors recognizing that the
satellite is its target. The missile's designed mission is to shoot
down ballistic missiles, not satellites. Other officials said the
missile's maximum range, while a classified figure, is not great
enough to hit a satellite operating in normal orbits.
"It's a one-time deal," Cartwright said when asked whether the
modified Standard Missile 3 should be considered a new U.S.
anti-satellite technology.
He said that if an initial shoot-down attempt fails, the military
would have about two days to reassess and decide whether to take a
second shot.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told reporters that analysis shows
the hydrazine tank would survive a fall to Earth under normal
circumstances, much as one did when the Space Shuttle Columbia
crashed.
"The hydrazine which is in it is frozen solid, as it is now. Not all
of it will melt," he said. If the tank hits the ground it will have
been breached because the fuel lines will have broken off and
hydrazine will vent out, he said.
Jeffrey said members of Congress were briefed on the plan earlier
Thursday and that diplomatic notifications to other countries were
being made by the end of the day.
"It should be understood by all, at home and abroad, that this is an
exceptional circumstance and should not be perceived as the standard
U.S. policy for dealing with errant satellites," said House Armed
Services Chairman Ike Skelton.
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Associated Press Writers Pauline Jelinek, Robert Burns and Ted Bridis
contributed to this report.
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