Posted: Tue, Feb 26, 2008, 5:16 AM ET (1016 GMT)
Defense Department officials said Monday that the missile that intercepted a defunct spy satellite last week completely broke apart the spacecraft's hydrazine fuel tank, eliminating any threat the satellite's impending reentry posed. Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, said he has a "high degree of confidence" that the fuel tank, which held approximately half a ton of frozen hydrazine, had been destroyed in the collision and the hydrazine dispersed. When the US announced plans to intercept the satellite on February 14, they cited the potential risk the fuel tank and its contents could pose, if the spacecraft reentered on its own, as the primary reason to attempt the intercept. The SM-3 missile, fired from a naval vessel near Hawaii, broke the USA 193 satellite into "less than" 3,000 pieces, none larger than a football, all of which are expected to reenter and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in the coming weeks. None of the debris is expected to survive reentry, according to the DOD.

Related Links:

•  AP article
•  Reuters article
•  CNN article
•  Washington Post article
•  Defense Department press release