The International Herald Tribune reports that the U.S. will blow up the disabled spy satellite that would have fallen to Earth. This is despite the fact that the U.S. had earlier protested similar actions by China.

The operation will be carried out from a navy ship that will fire a missile modified for the task at the 2,200 kilogram satellite, which will resemble hitting a ballistic missile warhead as it begins to re-enter the atmosphere.

The ramifications of the operation are diplomatic as well as military and scientific, in part because the United States criticized China last year when Beijing used a defunct weather satellite as a target in a test of an antisatellite system.

After their test, the Chinese said that they had no intention of getting involved in a “space race” and that their test had not been designed to intimidate. Under the Bush administration, the United States has asserted its need to protect its interests in space.

President George W. Bush ordered the military to try to destroy the satellite because “there was a possibility of death or injury to human beings beyond that associated with the fall of satellites and other space objects normally, if we can use that word,” said a deputy national security adviser, James Jeffrey.

SCTV fans will no doubt hope that the satellite gets blown up real good.