Satellite strike shows US missile defense works: Gates

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that the successful shoot-down of a rogue US spy satellite demonstrated that America's missile defense system works.

"I think the operation speaks for itself in that respect," Gates told reporters here after touring one of the warships that supported the operation in the Pacific ocean.

"I think the question over whether this capability works has been settled," he said. "The question is what kind of threat, how large a threat, how sophisticated a threat (the United States faces)."

Late Wednesday, the USS Lake Erie fired a single modified tactical SM-3 missile that hit the schoolbus-sized satellite some 250 kilometers (150 miles) over the Pacific as it traveled at more than 7,000 miles (11,265 kilometers) per hour, the Pentagon said. AFP

China accuses US of hypocrisy in space

"The Chinese side is continuing to closely follow the US action which may influence the security of outer space and may harm other countries," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.

Nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction are banned from space under a 1967 international treaty, but Washington's plans have caused concerns about non-nuclear arms in space.