Chinese ASAT is UNSAT

Although slow, the U.S. official reaction to China's SAT killing adventure is finally showing sings of having a backbone. Surprisingly, few other nations took exception to the test.

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 2, 2007

The Bush administration has suspended plans to develop space ventures with China, including joint exploration of the moon, in reaction to Beijing's Jan. 11 test of an anti-satellite weapon that left orbiting debris threatening U.S. and foreign satellites.

Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and the administration's point man for space security policy, said yesterday that the space weapons test was a shock. It shows space is a "contested environment" and that "countries are developing capabilities to put at risk our assets for which we are dependent," he said.

Also, the space arms test should be viewed in the context of China's large-scale buildup of both strategic and conventional forces, not just their space weapons, he said.

"We're now stuck with hundreds of pieces of this Chinese satellite for a hundred years, and it's having an impact on the entire global commons," she said, noting that there needs to be "common norms and acceptable rules of behavior in space."

U.S. intelligence officials said China has sought to obtain U.S. military space technology through espionage and other covert means but has been curbed by U.S. security measures. "They've had trouble getting it through the back door so they decided to come in through the front," a defense official said.

Among the technologies sought by the Chinese are dual-use civilian and military goods used in maneuvering spacecraft, including propulsion and battery know-how, which have applications for anti-satellite guidance systems, the defense official said.