Laser Strike at Satellite Derailed

Bad weather and faulty software have derailed a Pentagon plan to strike a satellite with a powerful ground-based laser, probably ending a controversial program that arms-control advocates feared might set off a new arms race. Pentagon officials said the experiment, which would have been the first test of a laser’s satellite-killing capabilities, was postponed Saturday for a software glitch and Monday night because of cloud cover. The so-called Miracl laser is based at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range, N.M.