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The amazing feat only happened once. In 1985, a F-15A Eagle fitted with a classified missile shot down an aging weather satellite. The test of the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) was considered a huge success. Task & Purpose has published a rare interview with the pilot who flew the mission 35 years ago. ============================================================================================== One of the most remarkable feats of military engineering during the Cold War was the shootdown of an actual satellite by a fighter jet. The incident was the first and only use of the AGM-135 anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. Although anti-satellite weapon development slowed after the end of the...

Commercial satellite images have provided the first photographs of a secret Chinese anti-satellite laser base in western Xinjiang province, along with other high-technology weapons facilities. The laser facility is located near a lake and is about 145 miles south of the Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The facility was discovered by retired Indian Army Col. Vinayak Bhat, a satellite imagery analyst who specializes on China. China is using its satellite tracking stations located throughout the country as a means of identifying and targeting satellites.

There’s a new member of an exclusive space race club this week. India announced that they successfully shot down a small satellite in low Earth orbit. But if you think this is a reason for anyone other than India to celebrate, you’ll probably want to reconsider that idea. (The Independent) India has shot down a live satellite in space as part of a successful test of new missile technology, prime minister Narendra Modi has announced.The operation, dubbed Mission Shakti, makes India part of a “super league” of nations to have achieved such a feat, Mr Modi said, alongside the...

India shot down one of its satellites in space with an anti-satellite missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing the country’s first test of such technology as a major breakthrough that establishes it as a space power. India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China, said Modi, who heads into general elections next month.

PM of India announces successful test of anti satellite weapon. Prolly with a beady eye on China.

File Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters) The US State Department on Wednesday (local time) said Washington has taken note of India's statement on 'Mission Shakti' while voicing concern over the issue of space debris. "The issue of space debris is an important concern for the U.S. government. We took note of Indian government statements that the test was designed to address space debris issues," read a statement issued by the US State Department. The statement mentioned that as part of its partnership with India, the US will continue to pursue shared interests in...

China recently conducted a flight test of a new missile capable of knocking out U.S. satellites as part of Beijing's growing space warfare arsenal. The test of a Dong Neng-3 exoatmospheric vehicle was carried out Oct. 30 from China's Korla Missile Test Complex in western China, said two defense officials familiar with reports of the test. A Chinese press report also provided details of what was said to be a missile defense interceptor flight test carried out Nov. 1. Photos of the missile's contrails were posted online.

Defense: Members of Congress warn that the State Department is working on arms accords to demilitarize space and ban anti-satellite weapons, leaving Russia and China with a huge lead in military space capabilities. On Jan. 17, 2012, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement announcing the Obama administration's intention to work with the European Union on an International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. It was supposed to be sort of a "rules of the road" for space-faring nations to deal with issues such as the accumulating space junk jeopardizing satellites and manned space activities such as the...

Last week, China tested out a satellite that's capable of grabbing and capturing other satellites as they orbit the Earth. This normally wouldn't be such a big deal, except that it amounts to China conducting a weapons test in space. And that's worrisome—especially to the Pentagon. So what's up with this space weapons test? First of all, we're not diving into a Star Trek-like future any time soon—at face value, the Chinese satellite test sounds rather benign. Experts are unclear about how exactly the test went down, but it's pretty clear that a satellite with a moveable arm reached out...

The DC Space Examiner reported on March 6, 2011 that India performed a test of the interceptor missile portion of its ballistic missile defense system. The test, the sixth of the test series, was reportedly a success and a validation of the technology to be integrated into India's defense system. The interceptor is purportedly the final component to be tested. As a byline, V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Director-General, stated this latest success demonstrated India's capability to effectively neutralize satellites belonging to an adversary.[1] While not the primary purpose...

Lockheed Martin has submitted its proposal for the next phase of Space Fence, a program that will revamp the way the US Air Force identifies and tracks objects in space. Space Fence will replace the existing Air Force Space Surveillance System, or VHF Fence, which has been in service since the early 1960s. The new system’s initial operational capability is scheduled for 2015. The contract is valued at more than $3.5 billion. For this next phase of the Space Fence program, the Air Force will award up to two preliminary design review contracts worth up to a total of $214...

On 11 January, 2007, China military tested its anti-satellite weapon or ASAT by hitting Fengyun-1C, a derelict Chinese weather satellite. The satellite was smashed into at least 900 pieces. The experiment drew considerable international criticism. The reports were confirmed by the then National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. For the first known time in history, a missile launched from the ground destroyed an orbiting satellite. This provocative action by China highlighted a new paradigm shift in the worldwide military strategy.

Earlier this month, the State Department learned that debris from the Chinese weather satellite destroyed in their 2007 anti-satellite test would be coming uncomfortably close to another — functioning — Chinese satellite. So, like any good neighbor, State told China about the possibility of a collision. In technical terms, the US shared conjunction analysis with our PRC brethren. But, as often happens with the fabulously opaque Chinese government, the US isn’t sure if China heard us or believed us. At a conference on space debris last week in Germany, a U.S. military officer spoke with someone presumed to be a...

While China’s 2007 anti-satellite (ASAT) test and its missile defense intercept test earlier this year have attracted much attention and concern, another emerging space power has also been expressing its interest in developing those capabilities yet attracting very little notice: India. Given enthusiastic statements by Indian officials about what they see as the need for ASATs and the country’s continued missile defense efforts, this could be worrisome. Though most of the rhetoric can be chalked up to regional rivalry, and much of the grandstanding downplays the level of technical capacity that still needs to be developed, India’s plans for missile...

China most likely conducted its January 2007 anti-satellite weapon test in the Kuerle region of western Xinjiang province, according to a report by the Kanwa Asian Defense news service. The service reported June 1 that “reconnaissance satellite intelligence” identified “facilities that have appeared to the South of Kuerle.” Large phased array radar antenna are located in a desert region to the south of Kuerle. The two phased array radar are similar to the Arrow II ballistic missile interception system designed by Israel, the report said. Additionally, China’s Second Artillery, which is in charge of all missiles, has a missile test...

The Polyus military testbed was put together on a crash basis as an answer to America's Star Wars program. It was built around a surplus TKS manned spacecraft and was meant to test prototype ASAT and Star Wars defense systems. It failed to reach orbit, but it had succeeded, it would have been the core module of a new Mir-2 space station. Its mere presence could have decisively changed the shape of the Cold War in its final months. In 1985, it became clear that the Energia launch vehicle would be ready for launch before the Buran space shuttle that...

Leading Russian spacecraft producer Energia has presented a concept of a universal military satellite with offensive capabilities. The 20-ton orbiter with a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years would be powered by a 150 to 500 kilowatt nuclear reactor and will be able to “monitor territories and airspace, provide informational superiority – including in armed conflicts – and perform target designation and traffic control. It will also be offensive-capable,” said Energia head Vitaly Lopota, as cited by ITAR-TASS news agency. He did not specify what offensive capabilities the satellite would have; whether it will be able to target other...

U.S. Air Force is concerned about American dependence on space satellites, particularly the GPS birds. The air force believes China is developing the ability to carry out a major attack on American military satellites. Their proposed solution is to take GPS out of orbit, and make it portable. High flying aircraft, UAVs or blimps would take over satellite communications, surveillance and navigation (GPS) chores, although for smaller areas. This would make GPS, and other satellite functions, more resilient to attack. This is part of a trend in which military satellites are getting priced out of the market by cheaper manned...

The U.S. government announced on January 6 that it awarded the defense manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, a contract to build the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan. The agreement is part of an arms package that the United States agreed to sell to Taiwan in 2008 (eTaiwan news, January 7). The Indian government also recently declared that it was expanding its anti-ballistic missile system to include an anti-satellite program (ASM) (Space News, January 4). Following these announcements the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced on January 11 that it had successfully tested a "ground-based, midcourse missile interception technology." The Chinese...

Memories in New Delhi run deep about how India's relative tardiness in developing strategic offensive systems [nuclear weapons] redounded in its relegation on 'judgment day' [when the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968] to the formal category of non-nuclear weapons state," said Sourabh Gupta, senior research associate at Samuels International Associates in Washington, DC. "With its early support of the former US president George W Bush's ballistic missile defense program and its current drive to develop anti-ballistic missile/anti-satellite capability, New Delhi is determined not to make the same mistake twice," added Gupta. "If and when globally negotiated restraints are...