WASHINGTON, Feb 21: The US Navy on Thursday brought down a malfunctioning satellite, an event that caused an international controversy as both Russia and China claimed that the Pentagon used the stray orbiter to test its ability to shoot targets in the space.

In Washington, the Pentagon announced that a missile fired from a US Navy ship in the Pacific Ocean brought down the US reconnaissance satellite late Wednesday.

Preliminary reports indicate the SM-3 missile struck its primary target, which was a tank full of toxic hydrazine rocket fuel carried aboard the 5,000-pound satellite, Marine Gen James E. Cartwright, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalists at a Pentagon news conference.

“The intercept occurred. … We’re very confident that we hit the satellite,” Gen Cartwright said. “We also have a high degree of confidence that we got the tank.”

The missile intercepted the satellite about 153 nautical miles above the Earth, just before it began to enter the atmosphere.

Russia and China complained that the missile strike smacked of hypocrisy as the US had rejected a joint attempt by the two countries from banning weapons in outer space only a month ago.

Washington says it had rejected the proposed treaty as unworkable, and said it instead favoured confidence-building efforts. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao gave a measured response when asked about the US operation. He said China was closely monitoring the effect the US move.