spacetoday.net: US to use missiles to destroy failed spysat

Posted: Fri, Feb 15, 2008, 7:43 AM ET (1243 GMT)
SM-3 missile launch from Navy ship (MDA)

The US military, at the direction of the White House, plan to use one or more missiles to destroy a failed reconnaissance satellite before it reenters on its own next month. At a press conference Thursday, officials said the decision to destroy the USA 193 (also known as NROL-21) satellite is based on concerns that the satellite's fuel tank, containing over 1,000 lbs (450 kg) of frozen hydrazine, could survive reentry and pose a health risk. Current plans call for using at least one modified SM-3 missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the Pacific to break up the satellite prior to reentry. The military will wait until the spacecraft reaches a low altitude so that the debris created by any impact would quickly reenter and not pose a risk to other spacecraft. Still, as a precaution, the US will wait until after the shuttle Atlantis returns on February 20th before firing. The decision to make the attempt came from President Bush and was based entirely on safety concerns, officials said, and was not based on worries that the spacecraft's sensitive technology could fall into the wrong hands. USA 193 was launched in December 2006, but failed in orbit almost immediately after launch. The spacecraft's mission was never disclosed, but was believed to be an experimental reconnaissance satellite.