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U.S. Official: China Turned to Debris-free ASAT Tests Following 2007 Outcry
http://spacenews.com/u-s-official-china-turned-to-debris-free-asat-tests-following-2007-outcry/
U.S. Official: China Turned to Debris-free ASAT Tests Following 2007 Outcry
by Mike Gruss — January 11, 2016
WASHINGTON – The outcry that followed the Chinese military’s 2007 destruction of a weather satellite and the immediate creation of thousands of pieces of space junk has helped dissuade China from conducting similar debris-generating tests, a U.S. State Department official said.
On Jan. 11, 2007, China deliberately destroyed one of its defunct weather satellites known as Fengyun-1C using a ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile. The action, which was widely condemned throughout the international space community, left a cloud of potentially hazardous debris in a heavily used belt of Earth orbit.
Since that event, U.S. Defense Department leaders say China continues to develop anti-satellite weapons and officials point to similar tests in 2010, 2013 and 2014.
Mallory Stewart, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for emerging security challenges and defense policy, called the 2007 event a “remarkable incident of irresponsible behavior” during a Jan. 11 speech at the Atlantic Council. Stewart delivered the keynote speech as part of a discussion on “Space Weapons and the Risk of Nuclear Exchange,” held to mark the ninth anniversary of the notorious test.
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U.S. Official: China Turned to Debris-free ASAT Tests Following 2007 Outcry
by Mike Gruss — January 11, 2016
WASHINGTON – The outcry that followed the Chinese military’s 2007 destruction of a weather satellite and the immediate creation of thousands of pieces of space junk has helped dissuade China from conducting similar debris-generating tests, a U.S. State Department official said.
On Jan. 11, 2007, China deliberately destroyed one of its defunct weather satellites known as Fengyun-1C using a ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile. The action, which was widely condemned throughout the international space community, left a cloud of potentially hazardous debris in a heavily used belt of Earth orbit.
Since that event, U.S. Defense Department leaders say China continues to develop anti-satellite weapons and officials point to similar tests in 2010, 2013 and 2014.
Mallory Stewart, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for emerging security challenges and defense policy, called the 2007 event a “remarkable incident of irresponsible behavior” during a Jan. 11 speech at the Atlantic Council. Stewart delivered the keynote speech as part of a discussion on “Space Weapons and the Risk of Nuclear Exchange,” held to mark the ninth anniversary of the notorious test.
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