June 7, 2009: China completed a large, phased array, radar station near its western border with Russia, four years ago. The Chinese won't say what the radar is for, but the location indicates that a radar that size could be used to detect incoming ballistic missiles, or simply to observe Russian missile tests that take place in eastern Russia or Central Asia (where Russia still has access to some Soviet era test sites.) The radar might also be part of an anti-satellite weapons system. To destroy satellites, you have to know where they are, and the radars, telescopes and computers that do this can be just about anywhere (although you need radars and telescopes all over the planet to cover all possible orbits).