Hughes Electronics has offered to pay for the US Department of Defense to monitor its company satellite launches on Chinese Long March boosters, despite its claims there is no risk to national security.
The offer follows fears expressed in the US Congress that there may have been a leak of technology from a 1995 Hughes satellite launch in China and a similar failure involving a 1996 Loral satellite.
Steven Dorfman, Hughes vice-chairman, told the US Congress that there is no evidence of transfer of missile technology to China. He says the 17 US commercial satellites built by Hughes and other US companies and launched by China so far were guarded around the clock by security specialists.
He added that US Defense Department personnel witnessed all but three launches, to which the military declined invitations.
Source: Flight International