 At first the Chinese government did not publicly confirm whether or not the test had occurred; but on 23 January 2007, the Chinese Foreign Ministry officially confirmed that a test had been conducted.China claims it formally notified the U.S., Japan and other countries about the test in advance.It was the first known successful satellite intercept test since 1985, when the United States conducted a similar anti-satellite missile test using an ASM-135 ASAT to destroy the P78-1 satellite.