U.S. stays the course on space weapons

By Jeremy Singer and Colin Clark

Space News staff writers

updated 8:33 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2007

Standing by the new space policy the White House issued last year, a U.S. State Department official said China's Jan. 11 test of an anti-satellite weapon in space is not cause to open negotiations on a new treaty that would place limits on what countries can do in space.

“We do not think there is an arms race in space. The United States believes that the existing body of existing international agreements — including the Outer Space Treaty, as well as the liability and respective compensation conventions — provide the appropriate legal regime for space,” the State Department official said Friday in a telephone interview.

The official said the space policy clearly states that the United States will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to, or use of, space — and that no change in that policy is warranted.

“Arms control is not a viable solution for space. For example, there is no agreement on how to define 'space weapon.' Without a definition you are left with loopholes and meaningless limitations that endanger national security. No arms control is better than bad arms control,” the State Department official said.

Evidence of orbital strike
Gordon Johndroe, the National Security Council’s chief spokesman, said in a statement Thursday that the Chinese used a ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile to knock out an aging Chinese weather satellite orbiting the earth at an altitude of about 537 miles (865 kilometers).

Johndroe described the incident as a kinetic strike, adding: “The United States believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area. We and other countries have expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese.”

The State Department official said U.S. Defense Support Program's missile warning satellites and “other assets” detected the launch of a ballistic missile and an event that generated debris. “Our space-tracking sensors subsequently observed that an old Chinese weather satellite is no longer on orbit. … We will continue to track these pieces of debris. We are especially concerned about any increased risk to satellites, but most importantly to human spaceflight, including the U.S. space shuttle and the international space station.”

The State Department official also said the United States received no advance notice from the Chinese. “We have expressed our concern to the Chinese and asked them to clarify their intentions in seeking to develop a ballistic-missile-based anti-satellite capability. ... The Chinese have not responded to our expressions of concern.”

Official: Two previous tests failed
A U.S. intelligence official told Space News on Friday that the Chinese had conducted two previous tests that were unsuccessful. The official declined to provide any additional details.

A Senate aide said the Jan. 11 test was the first one that was successful. The aide also said weather satellite was under control but dying.

“It made a lot of debris potentially affecting other satellites in [low Earth orbit]. We have to track each piece to see where it goes, to see which satellites specifically are potentially at risk,” the aide said, adding: “I hope the U.S. does now spend more and take space situational awareness more seriously.”

MORE FROM SPACE

Space Section Front

Black holes: Powerhouses of the universe Space elevator team wins $900,000 from NASA Space junk buzzes station while crew sleeps Moon’s ‘friends’ say no to future lunar crashes New survey finds 22 of the earliest galaxies Cosmic Log: See starbirth up close Stars: Cosmic road signs to intelligent aliens? Ten alien abductions, from ‘V’ to ‘X-Files’ New type of supernova discovered New theory tries to explain missing matter Space Section Front   Add Space headlines to your news reader: