USSTRATCOM comments on space debris article

U.S. Strategic Command Public Affairs
2/1/2010



In response to a suggestion made in Mr. Williams' story regarding achieving "parity" as reason for intercepting USA193 in 2008 (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=9676069), the idea that the U.S. was searching for even ground in space operations couldn't be farther from the reality of the situation. There is no comparison between the China ASAT and the intercept of USA 193. The Chinese shot at a satellite that was up to 800 kilometers. They destroyed it, and the debris from that will last for 100 years, increasing risk to humans and systems in space.

In contrast, the President of the United States decided to intercept the non-functioning USA193 satellite to reduce the risk to people and property. The decision to engage the satellite was selected as the best course of action to mitigate risks to human lives from the 1,000 pounds of hazardous fuel stored inside a titanium tank that would probably have survived reentry. The U.S. was completely transparent about they did, and why they did it. The shot was taken as low as reasonable, balancing the probability of success with altitude. This meant the debris from the intercept would be down in six months to a year.

The initial number of trackable objects from the USA193 intercept was about 3,000; more than 50 percent of the debris created entered the Earth's atmosphere within 45 minutes of the event. The intercept of USA193 was done prudently and transparently. The U.S. not only told everyone they were going to take action to mitigate the risks, they also contacted embassies around the world and told them what the consequences of the hydrazine were.