U.S. officials announced Thursday that the Bush administration has decided to shoot the falling American spy satellite which is no longer useful because its fuel might transform into a deadly toxic gas if it crashes in a populated area.   

This kind of operation could be the first one since the end of the Cold War-era in the 1980s.

The officials from the Pentagon are planning to use the ships and missiles that belong to the Navy’s nascent missile defense system.

The ships located in North Pacific will fire a tactical missile when the satellite will reach a low orbit of about 150 miles over their location.

Some analysts are saying that the administration chose this action in fear that the components of the satellite might get into the wrong hands.

Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has denied that, saying that the instruments will burn on reentry.

He said: “Once you go through the atmosphere and the heating and the burning, that would not be an issue in this case. It would not justify using a missile to take it and break it up further,” Los Angeles Times reports.

Even so, until now the administration has never shot any spacecraft or satellite before, in spite of the crashes and reentries which occurred over the decades.

According to administration officials, this time is different because the satellite, which was launched on December 2006, lost communication with the ground base thus leaving the 1,000 pounds of hydrazine rocket fuel frozen and unconsumed in the spacecraft.

Due to its dimension, the satellite might not burn entirely upon the reentry and the fuel tank could be intact if it is not destroyed by the missile.

If the hydrazine fuel gets into the atmosphere it affects the lungs and tissues, according to Cartwright.

“If you stay very close to it and inhale a lot of it, it could in fact be deadly,” he added.

Pentagon plans to shot the craft as it enters the atmosphere and for the debris to burn on reentry.

The Navy plans to have three destroyers and cruisers with sophisticated Aegis radar systems located in the North Pacific in order to prepare for the shoot. One of the ships will get to shoot, while the other two will shot if the first ship fails.

Cartwright said that it is possible for the second shot to be done a couple of days later after the first one, but it is unlikely.