China fired missile at satellite because...?

Question

China fired a missile at a redundant weather satellite because that thing was not in use, it was getting in the way, make some space for new satellites. I think this is the perfect way for using missiles, decluttering the solar system. What are your views?

Answer 1

One piece of the destroyed satellite, the size of a coin, could kill the occupants of the space station!
The debris will orbit the earth for years!
If one piece hits another satellite and destroys it, it could start a chain reaction, and all the satellites would be destroyed, and the space program would end, because there would never be a safe window for a space craft to fly through the debris.
So good idea, NO!
It was military muscle flexing!

Answer 2

By blowing things up in orbit more clutter is caused. Not only that but the clutter produced by the explosion is smaller, faster and therefore harder to detect and track.

There is a belief that when too much of this clutter builds up then many more wanted and use full satellites would be destroyed by an uncontrollable chain reaction. eventually we would be unable to launch new satellites to replace damaged or old ones. Bye Bye to the Internet, satellite TV and relatively cheap intercontinental communication.

Still it would also signal an end to ICBMs. This would leave the west in a great position to punish the Chinese Government with the issue of several hundred nuclear armed cruise missiles.


This wasn't big or clever but an example of muddled thinking. China was trying to prove a point and has made herself look a fool.

Answer 3

This was a test to confirm they had the capability of destroying enemy satellites. The next major war will probably begin with the destruction of surveillance, communication and guidance systems which are these days satellite based. Anti-satellite missiles would disable a technically superior nation that depended on space platforms for these systems. It is an ominous omen for the west.

Answer 4

Personally I think that the USA has become too powerful in the past few decades. It's true that some of the things they do were for good, like intervering in the Balkans to stop the genocide of Bosnians. However the Presidents have become increasingly abusive of their power and interfering too much. Having China as a superpower would create a balance and let Bush know that he can't do what he likes all the time.

Answer 5

Space debris is lethal to manned space flight. Most nations can do what China did but don't because of the consequences. China has reaped a bounty from outsourcing high tech jobs from the US. Now their know how is being put to use without regard to others. Consequences for the Chinese but also for the liberal outsourcing of high tech jobs by American companies. I say bravo to the American corporate pigs. You've planted the seeds of WW3.

Answer 6

well.........it's one thing if you use it over your own Country.....but if it is made to be portable and could move to any place on Earth.....you could see total................................well!

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Beijing secretly fires lasers to disable US satellites
By Francis Harris in Washington


(Filed: 26/09/2006)



China has secretly fired powerful laser weapons designed to disable American spy satellites by "blinding" their sensitive surveillance devices, it was reported yesterday.


The hitherto unreported attacks have been kept secret by the Bush administration for fear that it would damage attempts to co-opt China in diplomatic offensives against North Korea and Iran.

Sources told the military affairs publication Defense News that there had been a fierce internal battle within Washington over whether to make the attacks public. In the end, the Pentagon's annual assessment of the growing Chinese military build-up barely mentioned the threat.

"After a contentious debate, the White House directed the Pentagon to limit its concern to one line," Defense News said.

The document said that China could blind American satellites with a ground-based laser firing a beam of light to prevent spy photography as they pass over China.

According to senior American officials: "China not only has the capability, but has exercised it." American satellites like the giant Keyhole craft have come under attack "several times" in recent years.

Although the Chinese tests do not aim to destroy American satellites, the laser attacks could make them useless over Chinese territory.

The American military has been so alarmed by the Chinese activity that it has begun test attacks against its own satellites to determine the severity of the threat.

Satellites are especially vulnerable to attack because they have predetermined orbits, allowing an enemy to know where they will appear.

"The Chinese are very strategically minded and are extremely active in this arena. They really believe all the stuff written in the 1980s about the high frontier," said one senior former Pentagon official.

There has been increasing alarm in parts of the American military establishment over China's growing military ambitions.

Military experts have already noted that Chinese military expenditure is increasingly designed to challenge American military pre-eminence by investing in weaponry that can attack key systems such as aircraft carriers and satellites.

At the same time, China is engaged in a large-scale espionage effort against American high-tech firms working on projects such as the multibillion-pound DD(X) destroyer programme.

Several spy rings have been cracked and the FBI is increasing the number of counter-intelligence staff tracking the Chinese effort.

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well........................you say its a way to decluttering the solar system.....now what do you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

The Chinese have as much "right" being in outer space as the US does. Whether it is to clean up old hardware, or put everyone else on notice that they are now a player in world politics is up to the observer. However, Iran as no such capability, nor does it have nuclear capability as does China, but the US is worried about Iran. No sense to it.

Answer 8

china is showing the world should it want to take out a satellite , china can apparently without problem. fortunately china doesn't make land grabs or fight imperialistic wars and chooses to buy its oil instead of taking. the one thing i noticed when i visited china and i went to several provinces and cities, was how modernized the country was, china has certainly grown up since the 1980's

Answer 9

china wants to test its capacity whether it works or not,and also use it as a threat for those nations which are highly equipped with new technologies

Answer 10

He showed the world that it is capable of doing more damage in the event of showdown.