Chinese rocket makes sparks fly - in space

It was the first test of its kind since the cold war era - and the Americans, for their part, were not best pleased with China's decision to destroy an ageing weather satellite by firing a ballistic missile into space.

"We are aware of it and we are concerned, and we made it known," the White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.

Other satellites orbiting the Earth, including US military satellites, are now probably vulnerable to Chinese attack, the Guardian, among others, says.

Theresa Hitchens, director of the Centre for Defence Information, a private group in Washington that tracks military programmes tells the New York Times: "It could be a shot across the bows."

"For several years, the Russians and Chinese have been trying to push a treaty to ban space weapons. The concept of exhibiting a hard-power capability to bring somebody to the negotiating table is a classic cold war technique."
Captain's Quarters also says the test is a pressure tactic of Beijing's to get the US to change policy on space weapons.

"Russia and China have pushed for a ban on weapons in space for the past few years, but the Bush administration has resisted it while the US develops its missile shield program."
While Freedom's Zone worries that China's action is the opening salvo in a "spacewars" race, the spoof news site Scrappleface has an alternative explanation for the satellite's destruction: it says the Chinese, "famous for their fireworks", were trying out a new Roman candle and botched the test.