Toxic US spy satellite brought down by missile

Washington: A US Navy missile soaring around 210 km above the Pacific smashed a dying and potentially deadly US spy satellite Wednesday and probably destroyed its tank carrying 450 kg of toxic fuel.

Officials had expressed cautious optimism that the missile would hit the satellite, which was the size of a school bus. But they were less certain of hitting the smaller, more problematic fuel tank, whose contents posed what government officials deemed a potential health hazard to humans if it landed intact.

In a statement, the Pentagon said, “Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours.”


A defence official said later that officials monitoring the collision saw what appeared to be an explosion, indicating that the fuel tank was hit.

The USS Lake Erie, armed with an SM-3 missile launched the attack at 10:26 pm EST (08:56, Thursday IST), according to the Pentagon.

It hit the satellite – travelling in polar orbit at over 27,000 kmph – about three minutes later.

“Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days,” the Pentagon said.

The use of the Navy missile amounted to an unprecedented use of components of the Pentagon’s missile defence system, designed to shoot down hostile ballistic missiles in flight – not kill satellites.

The US has also organised hazardous materials teams to be flown to the site of any dangerous or otherwise sensitive debris that might land in the US or elsewhere.