Navy missile hits spy satellite - Space- msnbc.com

WASHINGTON - A missile launched from a Navy ship successfully struck a dying U.S. spy satellite passing 130 miles over the Pacific on Wednesday, a defense official said.

Two officials said the missile was launched successfully just after 10:30 p.m. ET. One official, who is close to the process, said it hit the target. He said details on the results were not immediately known.

The goal in this first-of-its-kind mission for the Navy was not just to hit the satellite but to obliterate a tank aboard the spacecraft carrying 1,000 pounds of a toxic fuel called hydrazine.

[From Navy missile hits spy satellite - Space- msnbc.com]

The missile used has been reported as a variant of the RIM-161 SM-3.

What I find fascinating is that the purpose of the mission wasn't simply to intercept the satellite, but to hit a specific spot, the hydrazine tank. Also, at least in the SM-3, the warhead is a kinetic warhead, which means that the missile kills by punching its target, not by blowing it up with an explosive warhead and/or the shrapnel generated by such an explosion.