Nautilus
Institute at RMIT
RMIT / Our Organisation / Research / Groups in Research and Innovation / Nautilus Institute at RMIT
Nautilus
Institute at RMITRMIT / Our Organisation / Research / Groups in Research and Innovation / Nautilus Institute at RMIT
Austral Special Report 07-14S September 2006
Source: Detail from 'Chinese ASAT Test', T. S. Kelso, 10 February 2007
On 11 January 2007, the PRC successfully tested a direct-ascent, kinetic-kill anti-satellite (ASAT) vehicle, destroying an inactive Chinese Feng Yun 1C (FY-1C) weather satellite (launched in 1999). The satellite was in a polar orbit, at an altitude of 865 km (537 miles), and was attacked when it passed over the Xichang Space Centre in Sichuan province. The satellite broke into more than 900 pieces, generating more debris than any previous space event and threatening many operational spacecraft.
This figure shows the earth from space, showing Asia in the center of the sphere. Xichang, in China, is the only man-made artifact that is marked. The orientation is generally North-South, with Australia at the bottom, and the Artic at the top.
Circumnavigating the globe is a red line, indicating the path of the weather satellite. Green dots indicate the debris that was created when the satellite was destroyed. While there are some green dots scattered right along the red line, there is a distinct clumping, marked FY-1C.
At the bottom, the image is marked with orientation data. It says, "Earth Inertial Axes. 11 Jan 2007 22:33:00.000 Time Step: 10.00 sec". The image is marked with the logo of Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI).
This figure is part of a talk given by Desmond Ball, entitled Assessing China's ASAT program. The full text of the talk is available.
Produced by the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Austral Peace and Security Network (APSNet). You might like to subscribe to our free bi-weekly newsletter.