Home pagePress CenterIn the Media James Lewis, director of the CSIS Technology and Public Policy Program, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, "U.S. Missile Shoots Down Satellite – But Why?"
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James Lewis, director of the CSIS Technology and Public Policy Program, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, "U.S. Missile Shoots Down Satellite – But Why?"
Yes, the Pentagon can obliterate a broken satellite tumbling at the edge of space. The question is, why bother?
That is the reaction of some experts to the successful destruction Feb. 20 of a dead US spy satellite 153 miles over the Pacific Ocean.
The official explanation – that the US wanted to prevent the toxic contents of the spacecraft's fuel tank from hitting the ground – seems a bit thin, according to James Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thus critics from around the world have speculated about ulterior motives, ranging from a desire to test US ballistic missile defenses to poking China in the eye.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in these publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.
