[Chine] Systèmes anti-satellites

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China launched a large missile on Monday that reached 6,200 miles above the earth, its highest suborbital launch since 1976, according to a U.S. scientist at Harvard University.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the rocket was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in western China, and China said the rocket carried a science payload which studied the earth's magnetosphere.

He said the rocket could possibly be used in the future to carry an anti-satellite payload on a similar trajectory, but there was no evidence to indicate the launch was intended to test such a capability.

The United States remains concerned about China's development of anti-satellite capabilities after it shot a missile at one of its own defunct satellites in orbit in 2007, creating an enormous amount of debris in space.

Monday's rocket launch was similar to launches using the Blue Scout Junior rocket that were conducted by the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s for research on the Earth's magnetosphere, McDowell said in an emailed response to questions.

The launch came less than a week after U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter unveiled what he called a "long overdue" effort to safeguard U.S. national security satellites and develop ways to counter the space capabilities of potential adversaries.

The Pentagon also released an 83-page report on Chinese military developments that highlighted China's increasing space capabilities and said Beijing was pursuing a variety of activities aimed at preventing its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the Chinese rocket launch.

(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Ron Popeski)

yoann a écrit:
Une petite question, le dernier chiffre ca a l'air d'etre l'altitude en pied ? merci pour les infos quand meme :)

Paolo a écrit:

yoann a écrit:
Une petite question, le dernier chiffre ca a l'air d'etre l'altitude en pied ? merci pour les infos quand meme :)

c'est l'apogée en km

(Reuters) - The U.S. government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, one U.S. defense official told Reuters on Wednesday.

China launched a rocket into space on Monday but no objects were placed into orbit, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The object re-entered Earth's atmosphere above the Indian Ocean.

"We tracked several objects during the flight but did not observe the insertion of any objects into orbit and no objects associated with this launch remain in space," said Lieutenant Colonel Monica Matoush, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

The rocket reached 10,000 km (6,250 miles) above Earth, the highest suborbital launch seen worldwide since 1976, according to Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pages/2013/May%202013/May%2016%202013/Chinese-Anti-Satellite-Test.aspx

Asked for comment, Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col Monica Matoush told the Daily Report on Wednesday: "We detected a launch on May 13 from within China. The launch appeared to be on a ballistic trajectory nearly to geosynchronous Earth orbit. We tracked several objects during the flight, but did not observe the insertion of any objects into orbit and no objects associated with this launch remain in space."

statement of the US Defense Dept.

"We detected a launch on May 13 from within China. The launch appeared to be on a ballistic trajectory nearly to geosynchronous Earth orbit. We tracked several objects during the flight but did not observe the insertion of any objects into orbit and no objects associated with this launch remain in space.

"Based upon observations, we assess that the objects reentered the atmosphere above the Indian Ocean. We defer any further questions to the government of China."

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31898.45
Apparently there is a Pentagon statement that they tracked the launch to "nearly geostationary altitude" and that the associated objects were on a path that would dump them in the Indian Ocean. (got this from a reporter, haven't seen the original statement - does anyone have a link?)

So if their tracking is correct, we are looking at a circa 30000 km apogee and an 8 to 9 hour flight.

Plusieurs rapports de renseignement américains ont révélé un calendrier très cadencé sur la mise en service des armes anti-satellite par la Chine. Tour horizon.