China denies that a recent test of a ground-based anti-satellite missile could trigger an international space arms race.
The nation apparently used a ballistic missile to obliterate one of its own weather satellites – Feng Yun 1C – on January 11. The test was first reported by US magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology and later confirmed by US government officials.
The impact reportedly occurred more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) above Earth, after the missile was launched from the Xichang Space Centre in Sichuan province, central China, or from somewhere nearby.
While declining to confirm the incident, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said other countries should not be alarmed. “There’s no need to feel threatened about this,” Jianchao told journalists. “We are not going to get into any arms race in space.”
But the White House was quick to condemn the reported test: “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,” said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Japan, which has long been concerned by China’s rapidly growing military might, joined the US in condemnation. “From the view of the peaceful use of space and international security, we naturally have concerns about it,” chief cabinet secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference in Japan.
Meanwhile, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer added: “Our concern about this is that to have a capacity to shoot down satellites in outer space is not consistent with the traditional Chinese position of opposition to the militarisation of outer space.”
Some experts, however, interpret the missile test as diplomatic gambit designed to push the US into multilateral negotiations concerning the militarisation of space.
The US has previously resisted pressure to draw up a treaty banning the development of space weapons, describing it as unnecessary. China has been a leading critic of Washington’s policy regarding the military use of space.
‘Freedom of action’
In October 2006, the US government developed a policy document reaffirming this position and stating that the US had the right to “freedom of action” in space (see US takes unilateral stance in new space policy).
In the 1980s the US tested air-launched anti-satellite missiles while the former Soviet Union used other satellites to disable orbital targets. The Chinese missile test, however, marks the first successful use of such a ground-based weapon. Experts worry that such tests can generate substantial orbital debris (see Space weapons could make orbit a no-fly zone).
There is some evidence that the US military anticipated the Chinese test, since US Air Force radar reports on Feng Yun 1C jumped from two per day to four in the days before its destruction. The satellite’s orbit was raised just before the test, which may have alerted observers to an impending test.
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