The U.S. Air Force is weighing how to defend U.S. space assets against anti-satellite weapon attacks, and wishes to discuss that with Congress, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told sister publication Space & Missile Defense Report.

The concern comes after China’s use of a ground-based missile to demolish one of its own aging weather satellites in a hit-to-kill shot that created an immense and potentially dangerous debris field to threaten satellites and other space assets.

For the moment, Wynne said the Air Force will focus on "things we can do" immediately, such as space situational awareness – intelligence of anything that might threaten U.S. space assets – and in mapping out a defense of those assets, "and how to do that."

As to whether it would be better to harden each U.S. military satellite, "I don’t have a handle on that, as we replace all of our space assets over the next 12 years," he said. In studying and selecting any U.S. moves to defend space assets, it is necessary to take into account many factors, and to recognize that the solution won’t involve just the Air Force, he added.

Earlier, Wynne and Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on the Air Force budget request for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008.

Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the ranking Republican on the panel, said that China wishes to become a superpower. He referred to the Chinese military going on a buying binge, snapping up cutting-edge aircraft, procuring new destroyers and four new types of submarines, and placing hundreds of radar-guided missiles.

China’s provocative acts have included the anti-satellite shot; another occasion where it used a ground-based laser to "paint" a U.S. military satellite; an incident where a Chinese submarine surfaced within torpedo range of a U.S. aircraft carrier; threats to invade Taiwan unless the island nation submits to rule by Beijing; and a Chinese fighter aircraft slamming into a U.S. Navy intelligence aircraft flying peacefully in international airspace. The Navy plane was heavily damaged, and almost went into the ocean, which would have killed two dozen Navy personnel who were instead taken captive when they landed the crippled Navy plane on Hainan Island, a Chinese area.

After China shot down its own satellite, some military analysts said the ASAT capability means China can demolish military and civilian U.S. and allied space assets at will. As it was, the vast debris field created by the kinetic kill for a time imperiled some of those assets.

Some lawmakers worry that China could opt to take out military intelligence satellites, the Global Positioning System (GPS), the International Space Station, NOAA weather satellites needed for military operations, or satellites handling millions of commercial transactions each day vital to continued functioning of the economy.

Wynne told Warner that the successful Chinese ASAT shot "shocked me but did not surprise me."

While Wynne indicated he knew beforehand that China possessed the technical capability to do this, he was appalled that a major nation would make such a reckless and irresponsible move as to create space debris imperiling critical space assets of many nations.

"What shocked me was the cavalier nature of the burst," Wynne said. In essence, he added, the Chinese were saying that "we are expanding our navy, we are expanding our air force," and now there is the added capability to take out satellites.

Moseley confirmed that the test shows that China "can attrit and literally kill satellites."

That prompts "a focus on our space situational awareness," Moseley said.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), voiced concern that such anti-satellite weapons could threaten myriad space assets, such as those providing the GPS, which are vital not just for military but for private users as well.

Worse, this is but the beginning of a growing risk to U.S. and allied space assets.

"As technology matures and proliferates, and as access to space becomes available to more countries, organizations and individuals, threats to America’s air, space, and cyberspace capabilities will continue to grow and evolve," Wynne and Moseley warned. "America’s Airmen aim to be ready to meet these and all other threats to our nation."