US condemns China’s satellite-killer test

As the Chief correctly noted in a earlier post, the ChiComs have gone considerably beyond what the DoD has (over-cautiously) referred to as “eyeing space weaponry”.

China drew fire from the United States for testing a space weapon that could be used to destroy satellites and other US equipment in orbit. US intelligence agencies believe that China launched a ground-based “satellite-killer” missile on Jan 11 to destroy an aged and obsolete weather orbiter, 587 miles above the earth’s surface. The weapon, which US intelligence believes was launched from the Xichang space centre, destroyed its target through a “kinetic impact” – or direct hit – the US said.

The sophistication of the launch and the weapon’s ability to track and home in on a tiny satellite has raised fears that the major powers are heading towards the “militarisation” of space.

Uh…”heading towards ‘militarization’ of space”…seems like that cat’s already out of the bag.