Anti-satellite weapon

Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are <a href="/facts/Space_weapon/UtrVNtxU">space weapons</a> designed to incapacitate or destroy <a href="/facts/Satellite/PTX8c68t">satellites</a> for <a href="/facts/Military_strategy/BP51zfYK">strategic</a> or <a href="/facts/Military_tactics/gm9zr57y">tactical</a> purposes. Although no ASAT system has yet been utilized in <a href="/facts/Warfare/MPluTbJ0">warfare</a>, a few countries (<a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a>, <a href="/facts/India/QW4TV4sy">India</a>, <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a>, and the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>) have successfully shot down their own satellites to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities in a <a href="/facts/Show_of_force/eCskULxt">show of force</a>. ASATs have also been used to remove decommissioned satellites. 
ASAT roles include: defensive measures against an adversary's space-based and nuclear weapons, a <a href="/facts/Force_multiplier/IX9UrdQM">force multiplier</a> for a nuclear <a href="/facts/First_strike_(nuclear_strategy)/pDvHGqxC">first strike</a>, a countermeasure against an adversary's <a href="/facts/Anti-ballistic_missile_defense_countermeasure/PoxKgenE">anti-ballistic missile defense</a> (ABM), an <a href="/facts/Asymmetric_warfare/15hIxMFY">asymmetric</a> counter to a technologically superior adversary, and a <a href="/facts/Countervalue/uIvfHqr5">counter-value</a> weapon.
Use of ASATs generates <a href="/facts/Space_debris/X7YSKlXl">space debris</a>, which can collide with other satellites and generate more space debris. A cascading multiplication of space debris could cause <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a> to suffer from <a href="/facts/Kessler_syndrome/DeBeFoto">Kessler syndrome</a>.

Anti-satellite weapon open-in-new

Anti-satellite weapon