Original source URL: http://www.satnews.com/stories2007/4247/ U.S. Denies Destroying Russian Satellite WASHINGTON DC, April 6, 2007 - Satnews Daily - The Pentagon has dismissed as not credible reports from Russia saying the U.S. recently destroyed a small Russian civilian satellite using an ASAT (anti-satellite) weapon, ostensibly a powerful military laser. Press reports from Moscow the other day quoted anonymous Russian experts as claiming a research probe named Universitetsky or Tatiana "fell victim to U.S. experiments in ray influence on spacecraft." The unnamed experts based this conclusion on the timing of the satellite¹s failure. The satellite stopped functioning March 7, and the Russian experts claimed the U.S. conducted a military experiment, probably a laser shot, at about the same time. They noted that Universitetsky suddenly stopped broadcasting and there was no evidence to indicate the spacecraft had broken up in orbit. Other Russian experts believe a U.S. missile might have struck the satellite as the Pentagon was holding a missile test on the same day. Universitetsky was a small spacecraft built and launched for Moscow State University to monitor space radiation. It was launched January 2005 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. "There¹s no way this is a credible story," U.S. Strategic Command spokesman James Graybeal was quoted as saying by U.S. media in reaction to the satellite¹s alleged destruction by a U.S. laser weapon. The Pentagon dismissed allegations the Russian probe had been killed by one of its ASAT missiles, saying its only recorded test launch was held March 5 and was not aimed at any satellites. U.S. Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner clarified that the missile used during this test followed a ballistic trajectory and splashed into the Pacific Ocean without hitting any objects along the way. This latest brouhaha over satellite kills follows last January¹s heavily publicized destruction by China of one of its old meteorological satellites using a ground launched ASAT missile. It was China¹s first success in three attempts to destroy an orbiting target using a kinetic kill weapon. Reacting to the furor in the West caused by this episode, Russian President Vladimir Putin said U.S. plans for space-based weapons were the reason behind the Chinese ASAT test. Putin warned the U.S. on the dangers of militarizing space noting, "China was not the first country to conduct such a test," an obvious reference to the U.S., which conducted the world¹s first ASAT test in the 1980s. The U.S. has had the capability to shoot down satellites since the 1980s. "The first such test was conducted back in the late 1980s and we also hear it today about the U.S. military circles considering plans of militarization of space. We must not let the genie out of the bottle," Putin said. Military analysts see the Chnese ASAT test as an indirect threat to U.S. defense systems by raising the possibility that U.S. spy satellites could be shot down. In October 2006, President Bush signed an order asserting the U.S.¹ right to deny adversaries access to space for hostile purposes. Bush also advoctes an ambitious program of space-based missile defense and the Pentagon is working on missiles, ground lasers and other technology to destroy enemy satellites. Recent Stories [links in original]: € 18 Satellites Lost as Russian Rocket Crashes € Russian Rocket with Military Satellite Crashes € Russian Space Agency to Lunch European Meteorological Satellite in April 2006 € New Russian Express-AM2 Satellite Successfully Launched -- -------------------------------------------------------- Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html Subscribe cyberjournal list: •••@••.••• (send blank message) Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/ Moderator: •••@••.••• (comments welcome)
