Anti-Satellite System Tested Successfully

The Air Force on Friday conducted a successful test of its anti-satellite system by aiming the weapon at a distant star to meet congressional restrictions, officials said.

The anti-satellite weapon, called ASAT, was fired from underneath a high-flying F-15 jet fighter launched from Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.

Because the ASAT was aimed at a star, rather than a target satellite in orbit around the Earth, it met restrictions imposed last year by Congress.

Those restrictions, strongly opposed by President Reagan and the Pentagon, blocked any tests against a target in space. The ban was imposed at the insistence of the Democratic-controlled House, where it was added to a Pentagon budget bill.

Fourth Test of System

Friday’s shot was the fourth test of the system, including a successful test last Sept. 13, in which an aging satellite was destroyed. The ban was imposed for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

The three previous tests involved the destruction of the satellite last year and two 1984 tests. In one of those, the ASAT was launched at a predetermined point in space, and, in the other, it locked on heat emitted from a distant star.

The Air Force announced also on Friday that its AMRAAM missile had completed another successful test. The latest test, the 11th success in 13 firings, of the advanced medium range air-to-air missile was conducted Wednesday at the White Sands, N.M., missile range.

The AMRAAM is designed to be one of the Air Force’s chief weapons for attacking enemy jet fighters, but its six-year history has been plagued by a series of cost overruns and technical problems.