USA-193 intercept — Operation Burnt Frost (February 2008)

On 21 February 2008, the US Navy destroyed the failed reconnaissance satellite USA-193 with a modified SM-3 interceptor launched from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, in an operation named Burnt Frost. The satellite, launched in December 2006, had failed shortly after reaching orbit and could not be controlled.

The stated reason US officials said the intercept was carried out to eliminate the hazard posed by the satellite's nearly full tank of hydrazine propellant, which they argued could survive re-entry and pose a toxic risk on the ground. Critics noted the test also doubled as a demonstration of a ballistic-missile-defence system against a satellite — coming barely a year after China's much more destructive Fengyun-1C test.

Minimal lasting debris The intercept was carried out at roughly 247 km, a very low altitude. The resulting fragments re-entered the atmosphere within weeks, so unlike the higher-altitude Chinese test it left little lasting debris in orbit.