 A U.S. Navy AEGIS warship fired this SM-3 missile at a dying reconnaissance satellite orbiting above the Pacific in February 2008.The test did not generate permanent debris because of the target’s low altitude. |
The informal ban on weapons testing that had been in effect since the end of the cold war was shattered when Many analysts believe the weaponization of space is inevitable because treaties banning space weapons would be unverifiable in light of the potential dual-use nature of some spacecraft. An automated space rendezvous robot, for example, which is being developed by several countries for repair or resupply missions, could be converted into an attack weapon with the flick of a joystick as the robot approaches a spacecraft. |
Weapons Testing
