<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  With a secondary explosion worthy of the Star Wars franchise, a Navy missile designed for anti-missile defense shot down a defunct spy satellite on Wednesday night. The cruiser USS Lake Erie fired a vertically-launched SM-3 missile from its position northwest of Hawaii at 10:26 pm (EST), and military planners continue to track the debris.  &amp;quot;Thus far we&amp;#039;ve seen nothing larger than a football,&amp;quot; said Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The fireball indicates that the fuel tank was struck, he said at a news conference, since there are no explosive materials in the interceptor&amp;#039;s tip or on board the satellite. [Check out DoD video of the missile intercept here; story continues below ...]  Now the real fallout begins: the debate over the so-called weaponization of space. After the China&amp;#039;s satellite shoot-down and yesterday&amp;#039;s success, it is clear that placing weapons in space is not needed to conduct war there. With orbiting platforms vital for military reconnaissance and communications, space is a battlefield that can and, one day, likely will be fought for. \u2014Joe Pappalardo   RELATED STORIES \u2022 HOW IT WORKS: Sat Shot Offers Key Space Defense Trial  \u2022 SPECIAL REPORT: China&amp;#039;s Anti-Sat Test Fallout  \u2022 PODCAST: Aerospace Engineer on Failing Satellite   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a2625/4251430/>