Anti-Satellite Weapons - ASAT

Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic military purposes. Currently, only the United States, the former USSR (now Russia) and the People's Republic of China are known to have developed these weapons. On September 13, 1985, the United States destroyed US satellite P78-1 using an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile. On January 11, 2007, China destroyed an old Chinese orbiting weather satellite. A year and a month later, USA destroyed a malfunctioning US spy satellite USA-193 using a RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 on February 21, 2008.

China

At 5:28 p.m. EST January 11, 2007, the People's Republic of China successfully destroyed a defunct Chinese weather satellite, FY-1C. The destruction was reportedly carried out by an SC-19 ASAT missile with a kinetic kill warhead similar in concept to the American Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. FY-1C was a weather satellite orbiting Earth in polar orbit at an altitude of about 537 miles (865 km), with a mass of about 750 kg (1,650 lb). Launched in 1999, it was the fourth satellite in the Feng Yun series. The missile was launched from a mobile Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicle at Xichang and the warhead destroyed the satellite in a head-on collision at an extremely high relative velocity.

This test raised concerns in some other countries, partly because China did not publicly confirm whether or not the test had occurred until January 23, 2007 but mainly because of fears that it could prompt or accelerate an "arms race" in space. The EU stated that "...a test of an anti-satellite weapon is inconsistent with international efforts to avert an arms race in outer space and undermines security in outer space.". These concerns were also reflected in public statements from the governments of the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. According to CNN, global security analysts stated at the time that the test was most likely aimed at the United States.

United States

USA-193 was an American spy satellite, which was launched on 14 December 2006 by a Delta II rocket, from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was reported about a month after launch that the satellite had failed. In January 2008, it was noted that the satellite was decaying from orbit at a rate of 1,640 feet (500 m) per day. On 14 February 2008, it was reported that the US Navy had been instructed to fire an SM-3 ABM weapon at it, to act as an anti-satellite weapon.

According to the US Government, the primary reason for destroying the satellite was the approximately 1,000 lb (450 kg) of toxic hydrazine fuel contained on board, which could pose health risks to persons in the immediate vicinity of the crash site should any significant amount survive the re-entry. On February 20, 2008, it was announced that the launch was carried out successfully and an explosion was observed consistent with the destruction of the hydrazine fuel tank.

Experts debated whether the hydrazine tank would have survived an uncontrolled reentry. However, if it had, any human fatality would still have been very unlikely. Although hydrazine is toxic, a small dose would not have been immediately lethal. The chance of the (assumed intact) hydrazine tank landing close enough to at least one person for that person to be killed if he or she lingered in the vicinity of the crash site was about one percent, while the cost of the intercept was about $100 million.

The intercept, however, was widely interpreted as a demonstration of US capabilities in response to the Chinese anti-satellite test a year earlier. The intercept was different from typical ASAT missions in that it took place at a much lower altitude (133 nautical miles or 247 kilometers) than would normally be the case, and the SM-3 missile as currently deployed would not have adequate range and altitude reach for typical ASAT missions in low-Earth orbit. However, the warhead was shown capable of hitting a satellite at orbital closing speeds, and the booster may be upgraded in the future.

India

In a televised press briefing during the 97th Indian Science Congress in Thiruvananthapuram, the DRDO Director General VK Saraswat announced that India was developing lasers and an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle that could be combined to produce a weapon to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. Saraswat also claimed that the "kill vehicle, which is needed for intercepting the satellite, needs to be developed, and that work is going on as part of the ballistic missile defense program". Furthermore, on February 10, 2010, DRDO Director-General and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, Dr VK Saraswat stated that India had "all the building blocks necessary" to integrate an anti-satellite weapon to neutralize hostile satellites in low earth and polar orbits. He said that the propulsion module and kill vehicle already existed in principle on the Agni (missile) series of ballistic missiles, but that India did not have a formal anti-satellite weapon project as yet. He indicated, however, that the anti-satellite weapons could be developed as part of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defense Program, which will complete the development stage in totality by 2014. India had identified development of ASAT weapons "for electronic or physical destruction of satellites in both LEO (2,000-km altitude above earth's surface) and the higher GEO-synchronous orbits" as a thrust area in its long-term integrated perspective plan (2012–2027).

Russia

In the early 80s, the Soviet Union used modified MiG-31 'Foxhounds' as a launch platform for an Anti-Satellite weapon system. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this project was put on hold due to reduced defense expenditures. However, in August 2009, the Russian Air Force had announced the resumption of this program. Further reports in May 2010 based on statements from Col. Eduard Sigalov in Russia's air and space defense forces, indicated that Russia was "developing a fundamentally new weapon that can destroy potential targets in space."