Rogue satellite

Satellite code name USA-193 launched in December 2006 on a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California   Top secret military reconnaissance mission - otherwise known as a spy satellite   Controllers lost contact with satellite hours after it entered orbit   Carrying approximately 450kg of toxic hydrazine rocket fuel   Satellite itself weighs about two tonnes and is about the size of a bus

Requests by US officials for more information on China's satellite shooting were ignored and none of Beijing's recent statements mentioned China's own destruction of the satellite.

Although no country has ever tried to shoot down another nation's satellite, David Mosher, a senior policy analyst at the Rand Corp think-tank, told the Associated Press that it could be an effective military tactic.

Mosher said satellites are now widely used for communications, missile launch detection and intelligence gathering.

"The country that has the most to lose if space becomes militarised is the US," he said.

"We rely on satellites so heavily, both militarily and commercially ... We don't want to go down that route."