Arms race in space gathers pace as China and the US test missiles

China and the United States have both launched missile tests in recent days, prompting analysts to suggest a space arms race between them is gathering pace.

China tested a Dong Neng-3 missile at the Korla Missile Test Complex in Xinjiang on October 30, the Washington Free Beacon said on Monday, citing two anonymous US officials.

The officials described the Dong Neng-3 as a “direct-ascent missile” designed to take out satellites. It was designed to target even those satellites with missile defence capabilities, they said.

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Two days later, America’s Missile Defence Agency tested its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean. The test, which cost US$230 million, demonstrated THAAD destroying a ballistic missile launched by a C-17 transport plane.

“I don’t have detailed information about the [Dong Neng-3] test you mentioned,” said a Chinese embassy spokesman in an email to the Beacon, adding that China advocated the peaceful use of outer space.

The Beacon said the Dong Neng-3 test was China’s eighth anti-satellite missile test.

In January 2007, Beijing said it had successfully conducted an anti-satellite missile test, shooting down an old weather satellite at an altitude of 860km.