"The president directed the Department of Defense to carry out the intercept" after concluding that it would help prevent loss of life from the uncontrolled descent, said Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey.
Jeffrey and other senior officials said the risk posed by an estimated 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a toxic propellant, aboard the schoolbus-sized satellite was a key factor in the decision.
They denied that it was driven by the desire to protect the highly classified satellite's secrets, or that the shoot-down was intended to demonstrate a US anti-satellite defense capability.
China drew worldwide protests after it shot down a weather satellite in low Earth orbit January 2007.
The United States has never shot down a spacecraft in space before, but its missile defense system is designed to intercept incoming warheads in space.
"Our objective here was to reduce the risk. Could we reduce the risk to space platforms, to airborne platforms, and to terrestrial platforms -- the earth, cities, people, etcetera?" said General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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