A US military satellite exploded after detecting an unexplained “sudden spike in temperature”, sending dozens of chunks of debris tumbling into different orbits around Earth.
Civilian company CelesTrak was first to notice the explosion of the once-secret weather satellite and the US Air Force subsequently confirmed that it had been lost.
The satellite was an ageing component of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program which the US military began developing the in the 1960s to help plan reconnaissance and surveillance missions. In 1972 the system was declassified, and data made available to civilian scientists.
The lost satellite was the 13th to be launched as part of DMSP, designated DMSP-F13, and had been in Earth orbit since 1995.
Air Force Space Command confirmed to SpaceNews.com that the “catastrophic event” came after “a sudden spike in temperature” was detected, followed by “an unrecoverable loss of attitude control”.
While operators were deciding how to “render the vehicle safe” they detected a debris cloud which indicated that the satellite had been destroyed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...ove-Earth.html


US military satellites could be disabled or destroyed in the event of a war in space, an American general has said, citing China’s tests of anti-satellite weapons. To protect US space capability, the satellite park should be reformed, he believes.
American satellites are defenseless against a possible attack in space, and their destruction “would create a huge hole”in the country’s capability for high-tech warfare, Gen. William Shelton, the commander of the US Air Force Space Command said in a speech on Tuesday, as cited by The Washington Free Beacon.
http://rt.com/usa/us-satellites-vulnerable-shelton-381/