Intercepting Satellites: A Comparison of the Chinese and US Actions

The Chinese intercept and destruction of one of its defunct satellites with a missile on January 11, 2007 and the US intercept and destruction of a failed, de-orbiting satellite with an antimissile missile on February 21, 2008 have focused significant public attention on the issue of the non-weaponization of space. US officials maintain that there is "no parallel" between the two actions (BBC News 2008), but the tests demonstrate similar unsettling negative effects on space security. Two satellites intercepted and destroyed