Are The U.S. Deploying Satellite Space Weapons?

The U.S. perceived China's shutdown of an old communication satellite two months ago using a new missile, (the first successful demonstration of an anti-satellite missile proceeded by any country in more than 20 years) not only as a proof of China's increasing military capabilities and ambitions, but also as a possible threat to its dominance in military space.

So, they are seriously acting accordingly, by first calling for a review of all American satellites, and now, by launching a new one, that will track the exhaust gases of incoming enemy missiles and (possibly) destroy them.

Minotaur I rocket successfully launched the Near Field InfraRed Experiment (NFIRE) spacecraft for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Air Force. The mission originated earlier today from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) launch facility on Wallops Island, Virginia at 06:49 GMT.

The MDA says it will launch test missiles in August and October so the NFIRE satellite can observe the plumes of exhaust they create. The point is to be able to locate a missile body by watching its plume with an infrared sensor - a capability that interceptors on the ground or in space would need to home in on and hit a missile.

In fact, the NFIRE mission was originally supposed to include an experimental "kill vehicle" that would have been able to maneuver towards a missile and perhaps hit it. Critics charged that this type of mission would alarm other nations and the US Congress ordered the kill vehicle removed from the mission in 2004.

It would be possible to develop interceptors that launch from the ground or from space, but the fact that this sensor mission is being deployed in space and was originally designed to include a kill vehicle suggests it is intended more to help develop space-based interceptors. "It's furthering along 'hit to kill' technology for space-based missile defense," she says.

The satellite also contains an experimental laser communication system. It was provided by the German government as part of an agreement with the US, and will be tested using a second identical system installed on a German satellite.

NFIRE is a low-Earth orbiting, 494 kg (1,089 lbs) satellite with an onboard Track Sensor Payload (TSP) and TESAT Laser Communications Terminal (LCT) as the primary payloads. The spacecraft is part of MDA's Kinetic Energy Boost-Phase research program. NFIRE will gather near-field, high-resolution phenomenology data that will assist in the development of boost-phase intercept systems.

The spacecraft has a two-year design life, during which various data collection missions will be conducted, including gathering data during the flight of launch vehicles during their boost phase. As part of this testing, the next two Minotaur II target vehicles will be launched from Vandenberg later this year.

Officials are worried that though its official purpose would be to test out missile defense technology, it could be perceived by other countries as an effort to develop anti-satellite weapons. That is because interceptors that can take out a missile in space would also have the ability to hit satellites.

On the other hand, it could just be a way of telling the Chinese: You have the anti-satellite missiles, we have the anti-missile system. Has anyone noticed the striking resemblance with the start of the Cold War yet?