On January 20, 2007, the ITwire article “China destroys Feng Yun weather satellite with anti-satellite missile” reported that nine days earlier, on January 11th, China had destroyed its aging weather satellite Feng Yun (FY-1C) with a ground-based missile equipped with a kinetic kill projectile aboard.

Rocketry experts believe the rocket to be a medium-range ballistic missile with a hardened warhead onboard. When it hit the 750-kilogram Feng Yun satellite at about 850 kilometers (525 miles) above the Earth, the missile, in all likelihood, smashed it into thousands and thousands of pieces that hypothetically could have hit other countries’ satellites positioned nearby.

Because the event was not reported by the Chinese government the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries levied formal protests against the action of the Chinese government. Over the subsequent weeks, most countries were concerned that by not reporting the action beforehand, the Chinese were placing healthy satellites at potential risk from space debris left in orbit, along with the possible re-entry of debris onto populated areas on the Earth.

According to an article in the January 27-February 2, 2007 issue of New Scientist, the “China missile test was legal.” David Wright, a space weapons specialist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, based in Washington, D.C., the United States has not actively lobbied the United Nations for a new treaty on the peaceful use of space.

According to Wright, “China and other countries have long called for discussions to develop a legal framework for space conduct, but the U.S. has been unwilling to join them. As a result, China’s anti-satellite test was legal.”

Historically, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABMT) was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on May 26, 1972. The Soviet Union was dissolved in December 1991—at which time the legality of the treaty became uncertain. On June 13, 2002, the United States withdrew from the treaty after giving a six-month notice to Russia on December 13, 2001. Upon termination, the United States pursued the testing and building of a National Missile Defense program, a general name for a U.S. military strategy to protect the United States against incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Controversy surrounded these actions—those in support of the program saw the need to defend the country from attack while those against the program saw the necessity to have an international treaty on nuclear proliferation.

In 1985, the United States conducted a similar anti-satellite weapons test. In addition, it is believed that, in 1982, Russia conducted such a test.

On May 24, 2002, Russia and the United States signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, which reduced the number of deployed nuclear warheads. However, as of the time of the Chinese anti-satellite weapons test, according to the New Scientist article, China was not under any international space treaty preventing such a test.

According to its Web site (http://www.ucsusa.org/), the Union of Concerned Scientists “is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world.”

The Website of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency is located at: http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/mdalink.html.

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