Standing by
the new space
policy the White House
issued last year, a U.S. State Department official said China's
Jan. 11 test of an anti-satellite
weapon in space is not cause to open negotiations on a new treaty that
would place limits on what countries can do in space.
"We do not
think there is an arms race in space. The United States believes that the
existing body of existing international agreements -- including the Outer Space
Treaty, as well as the liability and respective compensation conventions --
provide the appropriate legal regime for space," the State Department official
said in a Jan. 19 telephone interview.
The
official said the space policy clearly states that the United States will
oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to
prohibit or limit U.S. access to, or use of, space and that no change in
that policy is warranted.
"Arms
control is not a viable solution for space. For example, there is no agreement
on how to define space weapon. Without a definition you are left with loopholes
and meaningless limitations that endanger national security. No arms control is
better than bad arms control," the State Department official said.
Gordon
Johndroe, the National Security Council's (NSC) chief spokesman, said in a
statement provided by an NSC press official Jan. 18 that the Chinese used a
ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile to knock out an aging Chinese
weather satellite orbiting the Earth at an altitude of about 537 miles (865
kilometers).
Johndroe
described the incident as a kinetic strike, adding: "The United States believes
China's
development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of
cooperation that both
countries aspire to in the civil space area. We and other countries have
expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese."
The State
Department official said U.S. Defense Support Program missile warning satellites and "other assets"
detected the launch of a ballistic missile and an event that generated debris.
"Our space-tracking sensors subsequently observed that an old Chinese weather
satellite is no longer on orbit. ... We will continue to track these pieces of
debris. We are especially concerned about any increased risk to satellites, but
most importantly to human spaceflight, including the U.S. space shuttle and the International Space Station."
The State
Department official also said the United States received no advance notice from
the Chinese. "We have expressed our concern to the Chinese and asked them to
clarify their intentions in seeking to develop a ballistic-missile-based
anti-satellite capability. ... The Chinese have not responded to our
expressions of concern."
A U.S.
intelligence official told Space News Jan. 19 the Chinese had conducted
two previous tests that were unsuccessful, but declined to provide any
additional details.
A Senate
aide said the Jan. 11 test was the first one that was successful. The aide also
said weather satellite was under control but dying.
"It made a
lot of debris potentially affecting other satellites in [low Earth orbit]. We have to track each
piece to see where it goes to see which satellites specifically are potentially
at risk," the aide said, adding: "I hope the U.S. does now spend more and take
space situational awareness more seriously."
Bretton
Alexander, a former White House Office of Science and Technology Policy senior
analyst who worked on space issues for both the Clinton and Bush
administrations, said the Chinese anti-satellite test is a reminder of why the
United States believes it needs to protect its space-based capabilities.
"The Bush
administration has been on the defensive about its policy language on the need
to defend U.S. space assets," Alexander said. "But this highlights that the
threat is real and why we need to protect our assets."
Early
details of the event were first reported Jan. 17 in a blog written by Jeffrey
Lewis, executive director of Harvard's Managing the Atom Project, on the Web
site armscontrolwonk.com and in a story posted Jan. 18 on the Web site
aviationnow.com.
"This is an
enormous mess they [the Chinese] have created. There is no excuse for what is a
reckless, stupid and self-defeating decision on their part," Lewis said in a
telephone interview Jan. 17.
Lewis said
a U.S. Air Force database of objects in orbit showed the Chinese FY-11 weather satellite
intact on Jan. 11, but that the data a day later "showed about 40 pieces of debris,
which is probably just the tip of the iceberg." Lewis said. Space-Track.org is
the Air Force Web site that provides public satellite tracking data.
Lewis said
one positive result of the Chinese action could be a call for improved debris
field modeling. "Our models of debris spread are quite speculative, so this
event should help improve our models," Lewis said.
Reaction
was almost universally critical of the Chinese actions.
"Space
technologies are critical to the U.S. military and to the U.S. economy, so any
action that puts our space assets at risk is a matter of great concern," House
Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) said in a statement
issued by his office. Skelton said the committee "will carefully monitor
activity that may impact the way the U.S. military utilizes space technology."
A
U.S.-based China watcher, who asked not to be identified, said the
Chinese "shot themselves in the foot with this one. They couldn't resist
this demonstration of their capabilities after we came out with our space
policy saying, we are going to defend the heavens. The new [U.S] space policy
says we can defend the heavens with technology. But we can't and the Chinese
just proved it."
Arthur
Ding, a research fellow at the National Chengchi University's Institute of
International Relations in Taiwan, said China's motivation is likely rooted in
their perception of the new U.S. space policy.
"The
perception is that the U.S. is attempting to dominate space and the U.S.
refuses any space-related arms control," Ding said. "Further, China suspects
that the U.S. is attempting to militarize space in the future." A possible
consequence is that space-related arms control is likely to be added to
U.S.-China dialogue in the future," he said.
Joan
Johnson-Freese, chair of the Naval War College's department of national
security decision making and one of the United States' top experts on Chinese
space issues, said the long-term impact of the incident will probably not
be that severe.
"I think
there will be a lot of very vocal rhetoric, but I don't think it will have a
substantive impact. There are just too many reasons for both of us to work
together on so many issues," she said.
Correspondent
Wendell Minnick contributed to this article from Taipei. Staff writer Brian
Berger contributed from Washington.
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