On January 11th this year China carried out a successful missile attack on an old weather satellite.That the test was indeed carried out has been confirmed by NORAD the US surveillance agency.This is the first such test since 1985 when the US had carried out a similar test under its Star Wars anti-missile defense program while Ronald Reagan was President. Washington had halted such tests for fear of damaging military and civilian satellites with large clouds of space debris which drift about in space for decades.It is feared that the test may trigger a Star Wars space race.
What has come as a surprise to Western analysts is the sophistication of the launch and the weapon's ability to track and home in on a tiny satellite in the vastness of space.The US is most concerned with the test as it has demonstrated that China has the capability to knock out its military satellite system, which the Pentagon depends on for navigation and surveillance.Military analysts feel that a successful attack on 40 to 50 satellites in low orbit around the earth would seriously compromise US defense capabilities within a few hours.
Many feel that China has a right to challenge US monopoly of space. They point out that China has repeatedly urged the US to sign agreements outlawing arms in space,which Washington has refused to do.The reason given by the Bush administration for opposing a global ban on such tests, is that the US reserves its freedom of action in space. Arms control experts are not sure whether the test was undertaken to try and press the Bush administration into a global weapons treaty, or whether China was asserting its own interests in space. The timing of the test is significant as it came a few months after the Bush administration unveiled a doctrine asserting America's right to take action against any perceived threat in space.
The Soviets dismissed reports of the test as a rumor, but countries such as Canada, Britain, Japan and Australia have no doubt that it took place and plan to take up the matter with the Chinese government.China on its part denied that it had carried out any test and repeated its opposition to weapons in space.
Although the test poses no immediate threat to the US, it has once again demonstrated that China is extending its economic and commercial power to military areas. There is a strong lobby in the Republican government which perceives China as the main threat to the US. It believes that a confrontation could take place over Taiwan in future. The EU nations on their part are concerned that some kind of trade restrictions may be put in place which might affect exports of hi-tech equipment to China.
The test led Gen. T. Michael 'Buzz' Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff to order a wide ranging review of the vulnerability of US military satellites.What can the US do to protect its satellites?
High orbit satellites are safer as it takes several hours for a killer weapon to reach them.Low orbit satellites on the other hand would be difficult to protect.Methods which may be adopted are that that either such satellites follow sufficiently unpredictable orbits so that the enemy cannot launch a weapon on a collision course with them or they may be accompanied by decoys in nearby orbits. Deploying a large number of small satellites is also an option as it may not be technologically possible to knock out hundreds of satellites without allowing time for retaliation. The ability to launch replacement satellites quickly would also be an important deterrent. Laser weapons to detect and destroy such threats in time are still stories of science fiction.
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