The command responsible for U.S. military space operations lacks enough data to determine who interfered with two U.S. government satellites — the anomalies that were behind perhaps the most explosive charge in a report on China sent to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
"What I have seen is inconclusive," Gen. Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in a teleconference from Omaha, Neb., home to the military outfit that conducts U.S. space and cyberspace operations.
The congressionally created U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission said in its 2011 annual report that at least two U.S. environment-monitoring satellites were interfered with four or more times in 2007 and 2008 via a ground station in Norway.
The bipartisan, 12-member commission made clear that China's military is a prime suspect, though it added that the events in question had not actually been traced to China.
The techniques "appear consistent with authoritative Chinese military writings" that have advocated disabling a foe's satellite control facilities on the ground in a conflict, the commission said.
Kehler spoke to reporters during a conference hosted by his command on cyber and space issues. He was asked by Reuters whether he could assign blame for the possible efforts to take control of the Landsat 7 and Terra AM-1 satellites, as reported by the commission.
"First of all, I am familiar with the two incidents," he replied. "The best information that I have is that we cannot attribute those two occurrences."
"I guess I would agree that we don't have sufficient detail," Kehler added.
The commission in its report said an attacker could use access to a satellite's controls to damage or destroy spacecraft with more sensitive functions, such as military communications or intelligence-gathering.
It accused Beijing of responsibility for mounting malicious cyber activities, including to facilitate industrial espionage and to compromise U.S. and foreign government computer systems.
China's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
