Posted: Thu, Feb 21, 2008, 7:52 AM ET (1252 GMT)
A missile launched from a US Navy ship in the Pacific late Wednesday hit a defunct satellite in a decaying orbit, although officials said it could take up to a day to determine the results of the intercept. The Navy launched a single modified SM-3 missile from the cruiser USS Lake Erie at 10:26 pm EST Wednesday (0326 GMT Thursday), hitting the USA 193 satellite moments later at an altitude of 247 kilometers. Pentagon officials said the impact appeared to be a direct hit, but it would take up to 24 hours to measure the results of the intercept, including whether the spacecraft's fuel tank was ruptured. The US announced a week ago that it planned to break up the satellite, an experimental reconnaissance satellite that failed shortly after launch in December 2006, before the spacecraft performed an uncontrolled reentry. The primary reason for the intercept, officials said, was to prevent the satellite's fuel tank, which contains over 450 kilograms of frozen hydrazine fuel, from surviving the reentry intact. Others have speculated the intercept is a means to prevent any sensitive technology on the satellite from falling into foreign hands, as well as to demonstrate the US's missile defense capabilities.

Related Links:

•  Washington Post article
•  New York Times article
•  AP article
•  CNN article
•  US Defense Department press release