On the night of February 20, 2008, USS Lake Erie (CG-70) was operating in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Hawaii when she received the order to fire. What she was shooting at was not an enemy ship, not an aircraft, not a missile closing on an American target. It was a dead American spy satellite — USA-193 — tumbling through low Earth orbit at roughly 17,000 miles per hour, carrying a full tank of toxic hydrazine fuel, and falling toward an uncontrolled reentry that the Pentagon had determined posed an unacceptable risk to populated areas. The shot that Lake Erie fired that night was a single Standard Missile-3, and it was one of the most remarkable weapons employment events in the history of the United States Navy.
The Problem
USA-193 was a reconnaissance satellite launched in December 2006 that lost contact with its controllers almost immediately after reaching orbit. By late 2007, it was clear the satellite was dead, uncontrollable, and decaying toward reentry. A satellite of that size would not burn up completely on reentry — significant debris would survive and reach the ground. More concerning was the hydrazine: a full tank of the toxic propellant, if it survived reentry in liquid form and impacted in a populated area, could pose a genuine hazard. In February 2008, the Bush administration directed the Navy to attempt to intercept and destroy the satellite before reentry.
The Challenge
Shooting down a satellite with a missile is technically different from shooting down a ballistic missile in several important ways. The satellite was moving at orbital velocity — much faster than a ballistic missile in its terminal phase. The engagement geometry required precise calculation of where the satellite would be at the moment of intercept, accounting for the curvature of the Earth, the satellite's tumbling attitude, and the trajectory of the SM-3. The window for a shot was measured in seconds. If the missile missed, the satellite would continue its decay and the reentry hazard would remain. There would be limited opportunities to try again.
The Shot
Lake Erie's crew prepared for the engagement over a period of weeks, working with engineers from the Missile Defense Agency and Raytheon to adapt the SM-3's guidance software for the satellite intercept geometry. Two other Aegis ships — USS Decatur (DDG-73) and USS Russell (DDG-59) — were positioned to provide additional radar coverage and a backup shot if needed. On February 20, Lake Erie fired a single SM-3 Block IA at USA-193. The missile climbed into the upper atmosphere, found the satellite, and hit it. The intercept was confirmed by radar within seconds. USA-193 was destroyed at an altitude of approximately 247 kilometers. The hydrazine tank was vaporized. The debris field reentered the atmosphere over the following days and burned up harmlessly.
What It Meant
Operation Burnt Frost demonstrated something that the Aegis weapon system's designers had theorized for decades: that a shipborne missile could reach into space and hit a target moving at orbital velocity. The technical achievement was extraordinary, and it sent a message to every nation watching — including China, which had demonstrated an anti-satellite capability with a ground-based missile in January 2007 — that the United States Navy's Aegis cruisers and destroyers could operate as a space defense system when required. Lake Erie's crew had executed a one-of-a-kind mission with the precision that the stakes demanded.
The Ship and Her People
USS Lake Erie (CG-70) was commissioned on January 24, 1993, and served as one of the Navy's premier Aegis cruisers for more than two decades. The crew that fired the shot in February 2008 had trained for conventional Aegis engagements — air and missile defense in support of the battle group. The satellite intercept required them to operate at the absolute edge of the system's capability, and they did it on the first try. That is what decades of training and the Aegis system's remarkable flexibility make possible. Lake Erie was decommissioned on November 3, 2015, but the night she shot a satellite out of orbit will not be forgotten.
If you served aboard USS Lake Erie or any Aegis cruiser in the fleet, browse the cruiser collection at The Ship's Store — gear honoring the crews who kept the Aegis watch.