USA - 193 USA - 193 , also known as NRO launch 21 ( NROL - 21 or simply L - 21 ) , was an American military spy satellite launched on December 14 , 2006 . It was the first launch conducted by the United Launch Alliance . Owned by the National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO ) , the craft ' s precise function and purpose were classified . The satellite malfunctioned shortly after deployment , and was intentionally destroyed 14 months later on February 21 , 2008 , by a modified , $ 9 . 5 million SM - 3 missile fired from the warship USS " Lake Erie " , stationed west of Hawaii . The event highlighted growing distrust between the U . S . and China , and was viewed by some to be part of a wider " space race " involving the U . S . , China , and Russia . Design . USA - 193 was part of the NRO ' s Future Imagery Architecture , which was begun in 1997 to produce a fleet of inexpensive reconnaissance satellites , but has become the agency ' s most spectacular failure . USA - 193 was initially developed by Boeing , which won the contract in 1999 , beating out Lockheed Martin with proposals for innovative electro - optics and radar . But after cost overruns , delays , and parts failures , NRO sent the contract to Lockheed , which built USA - 193 around the Boeing radar design . Lockheed Martin and Boeing both supported the launch , the first in the joint effort known as the United Launch Alliance . USA - 193 weighed about , with a body thought to be long and wide , estimates based on the maximum Delta II payload . With the radar antenna extended , USA - 193 was about the size of a basketball court ( ~ 30 x 15m ) . Malfunction and orbital decay . The satellite entered orbit successfully but lost contact with the ground within hours . In late January 2008 , reports from anonymous U . S . officials indicated a U . S . spy satellite , later confirmed as USA - 193 , was in a deteriorating orbit and was expected to crash onto Earth within weeks . This came as no surprise to amateur satellite watchers , who had been predicting the deorbit of the satellite for some time . Hazardous materials on - board . Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) reports indicate that the satellite contained the hazardous material s hydrazine and beryllium . Though there was some speculation that the satellite might have a " nuclear " power core , i . e . a radioisotope thermoelectric generator , the FEMA report indicates otherwise . On January 29 , 2008 an Associated Press story quoted a U . S . Air Force general as saying that contingency plans were being made since intact pieces of the satellite " might re - enter into the North American area " . In respecting the Liability Convention , the United States vowed to pay for any damage or destruction caused by their failed satellite . Destruction . Planning for the destruction of USA - 193 with a missile reportedly began on January 4 , 2008 , with President Bush approving the plan on February 12 , at an expected cost of US $ 40 million to $ 60 million . The task force had as its goal to " rupture the fuel tank to dissipate the approximately 1 , 000 pounds ( 453 kg ) of hydrazine , a hazardous fuel which could pose a danger to people on Earth , before it entered into Earth ' s atmosphere " . On February 14 , 2008 , U . S . officials announced the plan to destroy USA - 193 before atmospheric reentry , stating that the intention was " saving or reducing injury to human life " . They said that if the hydrazine tank fell to Earth it " could spread a toxic cloud roughly the size of two football fields " . General James Cartwright confirmed that the United States Navy was preparing to launch an SM - 3 missile to destroy the satellite , at an altitude of , shortly before it entered Earth ' s atmosphere . On February 21 , 03 : 26 GMT an SM - 3 missile was fired from the " Ticonderoga " class missile cruiser USS " Lake Erie " , and intercepted USA - 193 about 133 nautical miles ( 247 kilometers ) above the Pacific Ocean . The satellite was travelling with a velocity of about 17 , 500 mph ( around 28 , 000 km / h or 7 . 8 km / s ) . The velocity of the impact was about 22 , 000 mph . The Department of Defense expressed a " high degree of confidence " that the fuel tank was hit and destroyed . The satellite ' s remnants were expected to burn up over the course of the next 40 days , with most of the satellite ' s mass re - entering the atmosphere 24 to 48 hours after the missile strike . U . S . officials denied that the action was intended to prevent sensitive technology falling into foreign hands , and also denied that it was a response to the 2007 Chinese anti - satellite missile test . This was not the first time the United States shot down one of its own satellites ; the Air Force had shot down a satellite as early as 1985 . Although the U . S . had objected to the earlier Chinese test of an anti - satellite ( or ASAT ) weapon , U . S . officials said there was " no parallel " with that test . The Chinese test destroyed a target in a high , stable orbit , leaving a large amount of space debris in orbit , while the destruction of USA - 193 in a much lower orbit would create debris that would likely deorbit within weeks . Controversy . The Russian government claimed that this exercise was a test of the U . S . missile defense program . The defense ministry of Russia accused the U . S . of using the hydrazine worries as a cover for a test of an ASAT , and noted that extraordinary measures had never before been needed to deal with the many spacecraft that had fallen to Earth . Indeed , the " New York Times " had paraphrased Gordon Johndroe , spokesman for the United States National Security Council , as stating that 328 objects had deorbited ( controlled and uncontrolled ) in the previous 5 - year period . However , U . S . officials maintained that the large quantity of hydrazine on board made USA - 193 a special case . According to General Kevin P . Chilton , when President Bush was briefed on the situation , the danger that shooting down the satellite would be perceived as an ASAT test was brought up , and President Bush made his decision based on the dangers of an uncontrolled reentry . Other observers dismiss the threat of the hydrazine , suggesting that the effect of the cloud , when diluted over a large area , would likely be mild : " The hydrazine tank is a 1 - meter sphere containing about 400 liters of hydrazine . The stated hazard area is about 2 hectares , something like 1 / 10 , 000 , 000 , 000 of the area under the orbit . The potential for actual harm is unbelievably small . " Other analyses , such as those cited by Yousaf Butt , show the hydrazine tank burning up in the upper atmosphere . Two examples of uncontrolled atmospheric re - entries causing ( or almost causing ) damage are the 1978 re - entry of Cosmos 954 , a Soviet satellite , which landed in Canada and spread dangerous amounts of radioactive materials over large tracts of land , and Skylab ' s 1979 re - entry , which rattled windows and dropped small pieces of debris onto buildings in Esperance , Western Australia ( no significant monetary damage resulted , but the U . S . was symbolically fined $ 400 for littering ) . No weapon existed in 1978 to bring down Cosmos 954 , and a Soviet anti - satellite weapon ( Istrebitel Sputnik ) , the first of its kind , was declared operational only ten days before Skylab re - entered the atmosphere , and was not capable of directing the space station ' s descent . Before the destruction of USA - 193 , Pentagon officials repeatedly denied that it was meant to bolster the U . S . missile defense program . Six days after USA - 193 ' s destruction , Defense Secretary Robert M . Gates said , " the mission ' s success shows that U . S . plans for a missile - defense system are realistic " though in the same statement it was confirmed that the weapons and systems used for this mission will not retain their ASAT capability , and will be reconfigured back to their original purpose as tactical missiles . Debris . The launch of at least one other satellite was postponed to avoid space debris from USA - 193 . An Atlas V launch hot line recording indicated the debris would delay the launch of a different National Reconnaissance Office satellite ( NRO L - 28 ) as , " a precautionary measure . "