The US military says it has successfully downed a crippled spy satellite. Three minutes after being fired from a ship in the Pacific, a missile struck the bus-sized satellite some 250 kilometres above us. Observers report an explosion, so US officials are confident they have destroyed the fuel tank, which contained highly toxic hydrazine which they wanted to stop falling to earth.
There was only an 80 percent chance of hitting the target. Some say the real reason was to prevent the satellite's technology falling into the wrong hands. Russia and China were quick to accuse the USA of covering up the test of a new space weapon.
Last year the Chinese were criticised by the US for knocking a satellite down, and filling space with debris they claimed would be dangerous for any space vehicle in orbit.
Confirmation the tank was destroyed will be 24 hours in coming, although some debris is expected to make landfall.