Quote:
A US satellite has launched that will gather information that could be used for a future missile defence system in space. The satellite will study rocket exhaust plumes to glean information that would help future interceptors home in on enemy missiles.
The project, called the Near Field Infrared Experiment (NFIRE), is run by the US Missile Defense Agency. The mission launched on Tuesday at 0649 GMT from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia, US.
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 manoeuvre 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.
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Waste of money or a good investment? Are we risking the provoking an Arms race in space?
Apr 30, 2007, 09:13 am
