Chinese ASAT: possible factoids

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Alarm over China's arms pursuit - in space
A report presses for US-China talks over space weaponry.
By Peter N. Spotts
The Christian Science Monitor
November 20, 2006 edition
[EXCERPT]

A mysterious incident of concern

In addition [to the reported laser/satellite incident], members of the
Senate Intelligence Committee have taken note of a recent incident
"that has them very concerned," says Gregory Kulacki, a China
specialist for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security
Program. Members wouldn't disclose details, he continues, so "we're not
sure what it is, but they said it didn't involve lasers.

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http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1369/...esting#comment

Anyway, NORAD's interest in FY-1C spiked three times in the past 18
months, suggesting launches on November 30, 2006, April 20, 2006 and
October 26, 2005.

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http://www.friends-partners.org/pipe...ry/021722.html

At the time of the test, Fengyun 1C had an active,
continuously-operating transmitter at 1.7 GHz.

It is, of course, now silent - confirmed by Lawrence Harris of the UK
who regularly monitors the imaging downlinks in that part of the radio
spectrum.

======================

"Allen Thomson" writes:

====================

Alarm over China's arms pursuit - in space
A report presses for US-China talks over space weaponry.
By Peter N. Spotts
The Christian Science Monitor
November 20, 2006 edition
[EXCERPT]

A mysterious incident of concern

In addition [to the reported laser/satellite incident], members of the
Senate Intelligence Committee have taken note of a recent incident
"that has them very concerned," says Gregory Kulacki, a China
specialist for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security
Program. Members wouldn't disclose details, he continues, so "we're not
sure what it is, but they said it didn't involve lasers.

Could this be the breakup of the supposedly passivated Delta-II stage?
If the passivation was confirmed by telemetry, then there should have
been no way for it to break up, since there would then be no source of
energy on board. But it did break up, which would imply it got hit by
something, either by accident or on purpose. Anyone know where it was
in orbit when it went ka-blooey?

Lou Scheffer

Louis Scheffer wrote:

Could this be the breakup of the supposedly passivated Delta-II stage?

I disremember the event. Do you have details, like the payload it
carried or the NORAD catalog number?

Louis Scheffer wrote:

Could this be the breakup of the supposedly passivated Delta-II stage?

I disremember the event. Do you have details, like the payload it
carried or the NORAD catalog number?

Allen Thomson wrote:
Louis Scheffer wrote:

Could this be the breakup of the supposedly passivated Delta-II stage?

I disremember the event. Do you have details, like the payload it
carried or the NORAD catalog number?

This was the COBE booster, on 3 December. More details at:

http://space.newscientist.com/articl...pace-junk.html

Lou Scheffer

wrote:

This was the COBE booster, on 3 December. More details at:

http://space.newscientist.com/articl...pace-junk.html

OK, I'll take a look at the elsets and see if they suggest anything.
Probably not, as Nick Johnson, the Alpha Debris Guy, said his group
didn't know what the cause was.

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16776882/site/newsweek/

U.S. officials say trash from China's satellite-killing missile test
has spread widely in space, creating a debris cloud that could
jeopardize spy satellites and commercial satellites in low orbits
around Earth.

"It definitely raises the possibility that something is going to be
hit, including the [international] space station," Peter Hays, a
senior adviser to the Pentagon's National Security Space Office, told
Reuters.

Theresa Hitchens, who heads the nonprofit Center for Defense
Information, told a conference held by the George C. Marshall Institute
that "a huge number of satellites have been put in harm's way."