It was a conference call from the Air Force General, Kevin Chilton,
the head of US Strategic Command, and Marine General James
Cartwright, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
They told him the conditions were “ripe” to launch what can now be
disclosed was a secret test of America’s anti-satellite weapons,
Washington’s first such strike in space for 23 years. That night,
the US navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruiser, USS Lake Erie, scored a
direct hit on an American spy satellite, known as USA 193. The
missile used, a highly sophisticated SM-3, took about three minutes
to climb 150 miles above the Earth, where it flew past the
satellite before turning back and destroying the target at an
impact speed of 22,000mph.
The strike came about a year after the Chinese
government had launched its own satellithe attack, which started a
secret “space war”, The Daily Telegraph can
disclose. For months the two super powers had been engaged in a
private and increasingly acrimonious row over China’s use of
weapons in space – an international taboo since President Ronald
Reagan abandoned the “star wars” programme in the 1980s.
The clash began on Jan 11, 2007, when Beijing shocked the world –
including George W Bush’s White House – by destroying a Chinese
weather satellite with a ballistic missile.
The strike, 530 miles above the Earth, dramatically demonstrated
China’s new ability to destroy the satellites of enemy nations. The
threat was obvious. Without navigation or spy satellites, much of
America’s military would be vulnerable.
Led by the White House, the West reacted with outrage. Leaked US
embassy files disclose that Clark Randt, the American ambassador in
Beijing, delivered a strongly worded protest to He Yefei, the
Chinese assistant foreign minister, on Jan 15, 2007.
The documents show that the scale of American concern over the test
was far greater in private than was admitted publicly. By January
2008, Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of
State, raised
the prospect of “military” action to protect American space
systems. In a “secret” complaint to the Chinese, she
said: “Any purposeful interference with US space systems will be
interpreted by the United States as an infringement of its rights
and considered an escalation in a crisis or conflict. The United
States reserves the right, consistent with the UN Charter and
international law, to defend and protect its space systems with a
wide range of options, from diplomatic to military.”
Washington was particularly concerned about the 2,500 pieces of
debris – and 100,000 smaller fragments – from the destroyed Chinese
craft. Some of the pieces would remain in orbit around the Earth
for the next 100 years and pose a risk to the US Space Shuttle and
the International Space Station, Miss Rice said. She also pointed
out that America had not tested an anti-satellite weapon since
1985. Just a month later this had changed. In February 2008, Mr
Gates – with the backing of Mr Bush – decided that diplomacy was
not enough. The missile was fired.
In public, the Bush administration denied that the strike, which
cost an estimated $30 million, was anything except a safety
measure. A broken US spy satellite was falling towards the Earth
and posed a risk to human health from its toxic fuel tank,
officials said. Destroying the craft in space was the safest
option, they claimed. Most satellites are left to burn out as they
re-enter the atmosphere.
The leaked embassy cables disclose that
Washington’s decision
to shoot down spy satellite USA 193 caused private “anger” and
anxiety in Beijing. The Chinese “repeatedly
emphasised that the United States should provide information on the
planned satellite interception prior to releasing the information
to CNN”, according to a secret memo sent from the Beijing Embassy
on Feb 22, 2008.
Crucially, the cable also confirms that the US government always
appeared to regard the strike as a military “test”.
The file, marked “secret”, states: “On Feb 21 (Beijing time), Post
received direct confirmation of the results of the anti-satellite
test directly from PACOM [US Pacific command], and with Admiral
Keating’s permission, Post immediately informed AFM [Assistant
Foreign Minister] Liu Jieyi.”
In January 2010, American intelligence detected a fresh Chinese
anti-satellite test. This time Beijing destroyed one of its own
missiles, rather than a satellite, 150 miles above Earth. The
Americans regarded the move as an “anti-satellite test”.
Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama’s newly installed Secretary
of State, sent
a fresh protest to the Chinese government, demanding
to know: “What is the direction of China’s BMD [Ballistic Missile
Defence] programme?”
The State Department told US diplomats in Beijing that the Obama
administration shared President Bush’s fears over China’s plans.
“US objections to China’s direct-ascent anti-satellite testing,”
Mrs Clinton’s officials wrote, “are still valid and reflect the
policy of the United States.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8299491/WikiLeaks-US-vs-China-in-battle-of-the-anti-satellite-space-weapons.html