In Chinese Missile Launching, West Sees a Disturbing Volley

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007

CHINA
In Chinese Missile Launching, West Sees a Disturbing Volley

China successfully carried out its first test of an anti-satellite
weapon last week, signaling its resolve to play a major role in military
space activities and bringing expressions of concern from Washington and
other capitals, the Bush administration Said.

Why China's Missile Test Is Troubling
It's springtime for anti-satellite missiles ? again ? now that China has
fired a missile into space and destroyed an aging weather satellite
orbiting 500 miles above the earth. The James Bond-style exercise left a
several-hundred- meter-wide cloud of scrap metal floating around in
space. Some of the debris could pose a threat to spacecraft passing
through the region, scientists say, and will remain a problem for
hundreds of years to come. And there will be repercussions on Earth,
too.