The United States lacks sufficient data to conclude that China is responsible for interfering with two U.S. environment-monitoring satellites, U.S. Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in a Nov. 16 teleconference.
“The best information that I have is that we cannot attribute those two occurrences,” Kehler said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter. “I guess I would agree that we don’t have sufficient detail.”
The congressionally created U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission said in its 2011 annual report that the Terra and Landsat 7 satellites were interfered with four or more times in 2007 and 2008 via a ground station in Norway. It said the techniques used in the incidents “appear consistent with authoritative Chinese military writings” that have advocated disabling an enemy’s satellite control facilities in a conflict.
