Navy Scores Direct Hit on Spy Satellite

The Pentagon announced that a missile launched from a U.S. navy ship hit an out-of-control spy satellite at 10:26 p.m. on Feb. 20 (U.S. EST).

The Associated Press reported quoting the Pentagon’s announcement that the USS Lake Erie fired a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), which flew for three minutes to hit the satellite approximately 210 kilometers over the Pacific Ocean.

"China is continuously following closely the possible harm caused by the U.S. action to outer space security and relevant countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a news conference in Beijing. "China requests the U.S. to fulfill its international obligations in real earnest and provide to the international community necessary information and relevant data in a timely and prompt way.” China and Russia have criticized that this operation is a part of the U.S. missile defense system to destroy other countries’ satellites.

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