US to shoot down dead Satellite

"Greg D. Moore (Strider)" wrote in message
...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html

I think this is fairly interesting news.

Apparently it'll be done from a cruiser launched missile.

I believe this introduces previously unannounced ASAT capability.

From my take on the satellite, I have to say, I think the likelihood of
any particular pieces reaching the ground and falling into the wrong hands
is fairly small. So I suspect that this demonstration of ASAT capability
is as much a bit of sabre rattling as it is an actual technical issue they
want to resolve.

Can someone remind me of the satellite this is (I know it was launched in
Dec 2006 and is most likely an intel sat).

Thoughts?

I'd say it's a fortunate coincidence. The satellite in question is quite
large (about the size of a school bus) and large chunks of it will almost
certainly survive re-entry. If you look at the map of its orbit you'll see
that there's a 50% chance that it will fall within the Eurasian continent
(between Western Europe and China), most of which contains countries you
don't wish getting their paws on sensitive U.S. technology.

And yes, the other side of the coin is that this is a good chance of showing
off U.S. ASAT technology since the Chinese are ahead in this area by way of
their demonstration last year. And their ASAT system is also mobile which
makes it virtually impossible to take out.

It's also a high-stakes gamble since if the U.S. *fails* to shoot down the
satellite the Chinese will almost certainly have bragging rights of being
the leading nation with ASAT weaponry. Another opportunity like this will
not come for quite some time.



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