International Herald Tribune Editorial - China's muscle flex in space

International Herald Tribune Editorial - China's muscle flex in space
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: January 21, 2007


China spread alarm and consternation among space powers when it destroyed one of its own satellites last week with a missile fired from the ground, thus becoming the first nation in more than two decades to successfully test an anti-satellite weapon. This aggressive show of force puts a wide range of U.S. military and intelligence satellites at risk and holds the danger of starting an arms race in space. Too bad the Bush administration's own bellicose attitudes — and adamant refusal to consider an arms-control treaty for space — give it scant standing to chastise the Chinese. The administration needs to reverse course and join in talks aimed at banning further tests or use of anti-satellite weapons.

The Chinese test, which Beijing has not acknowledged but was tracked by intelligence agencies, destroyed an aging communications satellite some 500 miles, or 800 kilometers, above the Earth. The missile smashed the satellite into hundreds of pieces large enough to pose a danger to spacecraft or satellites that pass through the debris for a decade or more.

The Chinese have now demonstrated that — should they ever choose — they could destroy essential American satellites used to conduct military reconnaissance, spot nuclear tests and direct smart weapons.

A top intelligence official told reporters last August that China had used a ground-based laser to illuminate an American satellite. That could signal a nascent effort to develop a way to blind satellites or to guide a missile to a target in space.

The Bush administration has been flexing its own muscles in space.

A national space policy issued in October declared that "freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power." It asserted a need to deter others from interfering with America's right to operate in space. The policy did not address whether Washington would place weapons in space — as some in the Pentagon have been urging — but the administration continues to oppose any restrictions.

Surely it would make military and diplomatic sense to pursue the opposite course and seek to ban all tests and any use of anti-satellite weapons.

The United States and the Soviet Union successfully tested such weapons decades ago and have no overriding need to develop better versions, although the United States is clearly trying. China's success in matching the feat reportedly came after three earlier tests failed, so the Chinese could only benefit from additional testing. The United States, with many more satellites in orbit than any other power and a military that has become increasingly dependent on satellites, has the most to lose from an unbridled space arms race.

Some experts suggest that China's latest test is intended to prod the United States to join serious negotiations. The way to counter China or any other potentially belligerent power is through an arms control treaty, not a new arms race in space.