Suit Opposes Anti-Satellite Weapon Test

Four Democratic congressmen today asked a federal court to halt the final testing of an anti-satellite weapon, scheduled by the Pentagon to begin Friday.

The Air Force weapon, which will be fired from beneath a high-flying F-15 jet fighter, is to track down and, for the first time, actually destroy a 7-year-old scientific satellite over the Pacific Ocean, according to Capitol Hill and other sources.

But Reps. George E. Brown (D-Colton), Joe Moakley (D-Mass.), John F. Seiberling (D-Ohio) and Matthew F. McHugh (D-N.Y.) joined with the Union of Concerned Scientists today in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, seeking an injunction blocking the test.

The suit argues that the Reagan Administration failed to adhere to congressional requirements for the planned test and that the Administration is not trying in “good faith” to negotiate a ban on the weapons as required by current law.

Pentagon spokesman Fred S. Hoffman, asked for reaction, had no comment.

Requirements ‘Fully Met’

White House spokesman Larry Speakes, asked about the lawsuit, said, “The United States has fully met the requirements of law concerning ASAT testing” and is “prepared . . . to discuss the whole range of arms control issues” in talks resuming in Geneva on Sept. 17.

The timing of the test is critical because the Solwind satellite which is the target will be in the correct orbital position Friday but not again for another several weeks, the sources said.

The test originally had been scheduled for Sept. 4, but was canceled at the last minute after Pentagon attorneys told the Air Force that the required 15-day period for notifying Congress would not expire until Sept. 5, the sources said.

President Reagan, in accordance with congressional requirements, notified Congress on Aug. 20 that the test is needed and that it will not block arms control attempts.

The Soviet Union warned that it will feel free to resume tests of its anti-satellite weapons if the Pentagon goes forward with the final-stage tests of the American weapon. The Soviet weapon has not been tested since 1983.