China quizzed over satellite destruction
January 19, 2007 – 2:04PM
Australia and other countries have demanded that China explain why it launched a missile last week to knock out an ageing weather satellite.
US spy agencies say China conducted a successful test of a satellite-killing weapon on January 11, knocking out the Chinese satellite with a “kinetic kill vehicle” launched from on board a ballistic missile.
The impact following the first known satellite-killing test in space in more than 20 years occurred more than 800 kilometres above the Earth.
Australia, the US, Japan and Canada are concerned about the possible militarisation of space and the hazards posed by debris from such tests.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who is in New York, said Australia was opposed to the militarisation of space.
“We had some concerns if China had been firing missiles into space to destroy satellites that this would cut cross the long standing commitment of many countries to ensure that space is not militarised,” he told reporters.
“We’ve asked the Chinese for an explanation.
“So far the answer from the foreign affairs people in China including the ambassador in Canberra is that they’re not aware of the incident.”
On the instruction of Mr Downer, China’s ambassador to Australia, Madame Fu Ying, was called to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on Tuesday for a meeting with deputy secretary Peter Grey.
“Australia sought an explanation from the Chinese government about the nature of the incident and China’s assessment of the danger posed by the debris created by that incident,” a DFAT spokeswoman said.
“The government also sought an explanation about the Chinese government’s future plans for developing and deploying weapons systems with the capability of destroying space assets.”
Madame Fu undertook to get further information from Beijing.
“We are waiting on the outcome of her inquiries,” the DFAT spokeswoman said.
The United States, Canada and Japan have also voiced their disapproval with China over the space test.
The US has indicated the test is against the general cooperative nature of dealings in space.
“The US 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,” US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
There are indications that the successful missile test against the weather satellite could have implications for US defence systems.
“(What the test would) demonstrate, if that’s correct, is that they have a capacity to destroy satellites in space and of course the danger there is that you get into a situation where other countries including the US I suppose would have to start to look for ways of protecting satellites in space,” Mr Downer said.
“The Chinese position and a common position around the world is that we are opposed to the militarisation of outer space.”
Analysts said China’s weather satellites would travel at about the same altitude as US spy satellites, so the test represented an indirect threat to US defence systems.
Japan has multiple concerns, including safety implications and what it means for the future use of space.
“We are concerned about it firstly from the point of view of peaceful use of space and secondly from the safety perspective,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.
The Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, which first reported the missile test, said a Chinese Feng Yun 1C polar orbit weather satellite, launched in 1999, was destroyed by an anti-satellite system launched from or near China’s Xichang Space Center in Sichuan Province.
The last US anti-satellite test took place in 1985 before Washington halted such Cold War-era testing, concerned that debris might harm vital civilian and military satellite operations.
According to David Wright of the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists, the satellite pulverised by China could have broken into nearly 40,000 fragments from 1cm to 10cm in size, roughly half of which would stay in orbit for more than a decade.
