Navy hits wayward satellite on first attempt - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Navy hits wayward satellite on first attempt

The Navy cruiser Lake Erie successfully shot down a malfunctioning spy satellite Wednesday night over the Pacific Ocean.

At 10:26 p.m. EST the Lake Erie fired a Standard Missile-3 at 133 nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean, according to the Pentagon. The SM-3 traveled at approximately 17,000 mph, a Defense Department statement said.

The objective of the shot was to take out the satellite’s fuel tank which contains about 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel that could pose a danger to people if it hit land, the DoD release noted.

Confirmation that the fuel tank was hit should be available in 24 hours, according to the Pentagon. The debris from the satellite will begin to re-enter the atmosphere immediately, the Pentagon said.

“Nearly all of the debris will burn up on reentry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days,” the DoD statement said.

The destroyers Decatur and Russell also took part in the engagement, providing long range surveillance and tracking, the Pentagon noted.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates was supposed to give the final go ahead for the launch after receiving information from the U.S. Strategic Command chief Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, a senior military official told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday morning prior to the shoot.

The Pentagon first became aware of the potentially dangerous re-entry of the satellite early this year, according to press reports. The satellite, known as USA 193, experienced problems upon launch in 2006 and is roughly the size of school bus, DoD officials confirmed.

It took the Navy about six weeks to make the necessary modifications to the missiles and radars to “take it to sea with some degree of confidence,” a Navy official said Tuesday at a press briefing.

The Navy had no prior capability to shoot down satellites and had previously “not explored that,” the source added.