WikiLeaks: timeline of the space race wikileaks

China and the US are developing anti-satellite weapon
WikiLeaks: timeline of the space race
The US and China are locked in a bitter battle to assert their power in
space, leaked diplomatic cables have disclosed. Here is a timeline of
the space race.

By Holly Watt 9:00PM GMT 02 Feb 2011

2 Comments

1967 – US, UK and Russia sign treaty, agreeing not to place weapons of mass destruction in space.

1983 – Ronald Reagan announced “Star Wars” missile defence shield. Star Wars abandoned at the end of the eighties.

1985 – US successfully destroys satellite with missile.

11 Jan 2007 - China launches ground based weapon against its own 4ft
wide weather satellite, destroying it 530 miles above the Earth. Missile
is thought to have been launched from the Xichang space centre in
Sichuan province.

15 Jan 2007 - US Ambassador to China delivers official protest at the launch to Beijing.
21 Jan 2007 - China responds saying launch posed no threat to any nation and that Beijing had no plans for any further tests.

7 Jan 2008 - US Embassy in Beijing delivers second official protest
against the Chinese strike a year earlier, complaining that it had
resulted in 2,500 pieces of orbital debris posing a threat to the
Shuttle and the International Space Station. US Sec of State Condi Rice
warns Washington will use a “wide range of options” including “military”
action to protect its space systems.

14 Feb 2008 – Joint Chief of Staff General James Cartwright insists that
the reason the satellite is being shot down is “all about trying to
reduce the danger to human beings”.

21 Feb 2008 - US shoots down its own malfunctioning spy satellite, USA
193, using a sophisticated SM-3 missile, fired from the USS Lake Erie.
It took three minutes to reach the satellite 150 miles above the Earth.

11 Jan 2010 - China launches another strike from the Korla Missile Test
Complex. It fired an SC-19 missile and destroyed a CSS-X-11 medium range
ballistic missile in space 155 miles above the Earth. US intelligence
believes this to be another test of China’s anti-satellite space
weapons.

12 Jan 2010 - Obama administration lodges official protest with Beijing
government, warning that the concerns voiced under George W Bush are
still valid US policy.

12 Feb 2010 – US “laser plane” successfully shoots down missile.

» WikiLeaks: the race to take control of space WikiLeaks
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