Washington D.C. (AHN) - The Pentagon has confirmed that China has tested its anti-satellite laser and jammed a U.S. satellite but wouldn't say which satellite was involved.
The U.S. has 30 Global Positioning Satellites that it relies on for a number of tasks. That ranges from military uses such as targeting bombs and finding enemy locations to consumer uses such as automobile navigation systems and bank automatic teller machines.
The Pentagon's National Reconnaissance Office Director Donald Kerr acknowledged the incident to Defense News last week, but said it did not materially damage the U.S. satellite's ability to collect information.
"It makes us think," Kerr said.
The incident has sparked worldwide concerns over the vulnerabilities of communications satellites and has made watchdog groups to re-consider if satellite problems are caused by malfunctions, weather anomalies like solar flares, or targeted attacks.
Air Force Space Commander General Kevin Chilton said, "We're at a point where the technology's out there and the capability for people to do things to our satellites is there. I'm focused on it beyond any single event."
The reports of Beijing's testing of the anti-satellite laser is likely to reignite the debate over the U.S.' own anti-satellite program, Starfire, for which the House of Representatives attempted to block funding.
The funds were reinstated after Air Force
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