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A new Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) test could showcase an ability
to reach medium-Earth orbit. Doing so, some analysts say, would underscore that country's
ability to place the constellation of U.S. Global Positioning System navigational satellites
at risk, but also a
similar Chinese system.
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are designed to incapacitate or
destroy satellites for strategic military purposes. Currently, only the United States,
the former Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China are known to have
developed these weapons.