Posted: Thu, Jan 18, 2007, 7:24 AM ET (1224 GMT)
China tested an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon earlier this month, destroying an aging Chinese weather satellite, Aviation Week reported online Wednesday night. According to the report, a direct ascent ASAT weapon fired from the vicinity of the Xichang Space Center his and destroyed the Fengyun 1C spacecraft on January 11. US Air Force radars that track satellites later found many debris objects in the vicinity of the satellite. The incident is the first test of a weapon that could destroy low Earth orbit satellites, and comes about four months after a Chinese groundbased laser "illuminated" a passing US military satellite.

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