Why Shoot Down Our Own Spy Satellite?

Simple, it's a good excuse to test out the latest missile technology. The excuses that the free falling, school bus-sized, spy satellite might hit someone, or that the hydrazine fuel is dangerous are just that - convenient excuses. How many people have been killed by a falling satellite? No, this is all about testing out this baby - the Raytheon RIM-161A Standard Missile 3.



This is a 21 ft long missile with a kinetic "hit-to-kill" warhead. It is fired from an Aegis equipped destroyer or cruiser and was designed to intercept incoming nuclear warheads. This is a perfect opportunity for a real-life test of this missile. Unfortunately, other nations frown upon testing anti-satellite weapons systems. In fact, we didn't much care for it when the Chinese did the same thing last year. This is purely a test of an anti-satellite system by the USA.