[FPSPACE] Did 'naive engineers' spur China's anti-satellite test?

[LARRY KLAES]

Did 'naive engineers' spur China's anti-satellite test?

21:42 07 May 2008

NewScientist.com news service

David Shiga

China tested an anti-satellite weapon in 2007 simply because it was ready to 
test after 20 years of development – and not as a deliberate provocation, an 
expert on Chinese space policy said at a US Senate hearing on Wednesday.

China blasted one of its own satellites to bits with a missile in January 
2007, creating thousands of pieces of space debris that could slam into 
other satellites. The act sparked international outrage and prompted 
speculation about China's motivation for the anti-satellite (ASAT) test.

For several years prior to the test, China had been pushing for an 
international ban on weapons in space, a move the US had been resisting. 
Some observers suggested the test was meant to persuade the US to 
reconsider.

But an expert on China's space programme said on Wednesday that analysts are 
now leaning towards the view that the engineers running China's ASAT 
programme simply wanted to verify that the technology worked, and that 
Chinese decision makers naively failed to anticipate the international 
outrage that the test provoked.

Full article here:

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13856-did-naive-engineers-spur-chinas-antisatellite-test.html