Gates says will share data with China
 

AP


WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the United States is prepared to share with China some of the information it has about the U.S. shootdown of a spy satellite.

His comments came hours after Beijing complained the missile strike could cause harm to outer space security and some countries.

"We provided a lot of information ... before it took place," Gates told reporters during a visit to Hawaii. But, the secretary also said that he is determined to be open about the U.S. operation and "we are prepared to share whatever appropriately we can."

Debris from the obliterated satellite was being tracked over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans but appeared to be too small to cause damage on Earth, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said earlier Thursday.

He told a Pentagon news conference that officials have a "high degree of confidence" that the missile launched from a Navy cruiser hit exactly where intended — destroying the toxic fuel tank that officials said could kill if it fell to a populated area on Earth.