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Russia Expresses Concern Over Failed US Satellite

Posted on: Saturday, 16 February 2008, 18:00 CST

The Russian Defence Ministry today expressed concern at the situation with an US spy satellite that has lost control and can fall on Earth. It believes that the United States is planning to test a new type of strategic weapons under the pretext of destroying the satellite. Moscow is planning to raise this issue at a high-level Russian-American meeting on strategic stability to be held in Budapest at the end of February.

"A critical situation has lately developed with the American spy satellite USA 193. This satellite was launched in December 2006. In August 2007 the Americans have officially announced it to be faulty. According to our estimates, it should enter the dense layers of the atmosphere at the beginning of March of this year and fall apart. Some of its fragments may reach the surface of the Earth," the Defence Ministry's information and public relations department has told Itar-Tass.

On 14 February, US President George Bush ordered air defence interceptors to be used to shoot down the failed satellite. On the same day, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Cartwright, held a news conference. In order to substantiate the decision, he referred to the danger, primarily environmental, from the hydrazine-based toxic fuel aboard the satellite.

According to American specialists, if the satellite is allowed to continue its freefall, about 1,270 pieces, including up to 450 kilograms of hydrazine, may reach the surface of the earth.

It was said that the "window" for destroying the satellite would open in three or four days and would last seven or eight days. Cartwright did not name the exact day of the interception but said that 90 per cent of the fragments from the satellite should enter the atmosphere during two revolutions. Nor could he assess the probability of the satellite being destroyed by air defence systems but said that, if they miss the first time, another attempt would be made. The Americans have adjusted three Standard-3 interceptors for this purpose.

Cartwright said the destruction of the satellite would be a single act. He declined to provide design details of the satellite belonging to the US national intelligence service but stressed that the satellite was completely uncontrollable.

"Washington has provided a wide range of legal arguments that such operation will not be in violation of any of the US obligations or international law," the Russian Defence Ministry said. "Judging by how the Americans plan to organize the interception, there is at present indeed no indication of such violations."

"At the same time, the decision of George Bush and the hastiness with which the Pentagon is trying to destroy its satellite give rise a number of questions," the Defence Ministry said.

"In particular, there are not enough arguments to substantiate the decision for intercepting the falling satellite with air defence systems. On more than one occasion since space activities began, various countries' spacecraft have abnormally left their orbit and fallen to Earth. Many countries use toxic components of fuel in the propulsion systems of spacecraft to maintain their required orbit. But on no occasion has this called for any extraordinary measures. So it needs to be explained what other dangerous matter there may be aboard the satellite in addition to the toxic materials that have been officially stated to be there, and whether there are any radioactive materials aboard it.

" No comparative assessment of what consequences the interception of the satellite in orbit and its uncontrolled re-entry will have; there is no assessment of the consequences failure to intercept it in orbit would have; nor is there any analysis of what effect this operation will have on human space activity, including manned space flight.

"While recognizing the US ownership rights to the satellite, it is bewildering that the American partners have failed to provide more detailed information that could help other countries analyse the situation because it is threatening not only the USA but practically the whole population of the Earth," it said.

"We have practical experience of cooperation on such matters. Suffice it to recall the descent and sinking of the Mir orbiting station. We had established close cooperation with all interested parties, primarily the USA and this produced positive results," the Defence Ministry said.

It said the question - how and when will the international community know what and where should be undertaken to ensure the safety of people on land, at sea, in the air and in space? - is quite legitimate.

"In addition, the impression is that the USA is trying to use the emergency satellite situation in order to test the antimissile systems it is deploying against satellites. Isn't this the reason why the interceptors will be provided with telemetric equipment? Indeed, such equipment is necessary not for verifying the fact of destroying the spacecraft but for testing the interceptor itself. Essentially, speculations about the danger of the satellite hide preparations for the classical testing of an antisatellite weapon," the information and public relations department said.

Russian military specialists recalled the "clamorous campaign launched by the USA after the successful testing of antisatellite weapons in China in January of last year". "The analysis of the conditions for the planned interception of the American satellite are largely close to the conditions of the Chinese experiment. The USA clearly interpreted China's efforts as an attempt to create a space weapon that will increase the amount of space debris that endanger spacecraft and the International Space Station," the department said.

"Despite the difference in the information coverage of interception by the Americans and the Chinese, from the technical point of view, the destruction of an object in near-Earth space will lead to its further 'pollution'. This approach means that the Americans use double standards and seek to have an arms race in outer space," the Defence Ministry said.

The USA is creating the first echelon of space defence in low orbits (up to 300 kilometres) to be controlled from cruisers. Given the mobility of such air defence systems, this echelon will have global coverage and will be able to destroy targets in orbits with any inclination. The second echelon will use ground-based air defence systems in Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and those to be deployed in Poland.

"Such testing essentially means the creation of a new type of strategic weans. The concern of any country about its space capabilities would be legitimate in the circumstances. This concerns primarily space systems used for national social and economic purposes, such as navigation, weather monitorin, and emergency warning. Indeed, a considerable portion of the world' s orbital infrastructure - spacecraft in low elliptical orbits - is within reach of such weapons," the department said.

The Russian Defence Ministry believes that "the decision to destroy the American satellite is not as harmless as they are claiming, especially at a time when the USA has been evading negotiations on the prohibition (limitation) of arms race in outer space for a long time."

A high-level Russian-American meeting on strategic stability will be held at the end of February in Budapest. The Russian delegation would like to "receive answers to these and other questions during the meeting", the ministry said.

"We hope that the answers will be exhaustive," it added.

Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

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