WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Pentagon officials said they think a Navy missile scored a direct hit on the fuel tank of an errant spy satellite late Wednesday , eliminating a toxic threat to people on Earth . The USS Lake Erie launches a missile as the satellite travels over the Pacific Ocean . `` We have a high degree of confidence we got the tank , '' Marine Gen. James Cartwright said at a Pentagon briefing Thursday morning . A fireball and a vapor cloud seen after the strike appeared to indicate the toxic hydrazine fuel had been destroyed , he said . The missile that struck the satellite did not carry an explosive warhead . Cartwright also said the satellite seemed to be reduced to small pieces . `` Thus far , we see nothing larger than a football , '' he said . The military was analyzing data from the strike to confirm that the tank was hit and that no larger pieces of debris escaped detection , Cartwright said . The missile that struck the satellite was launched from the ballistic missile defense cruiser USS Lake Erie from the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii at 10:26 p.m . ET Wednesday , the general said . Breakup of the satellite more than 130 miles above was confirmed 24 minutes later , Cartwright said . Watch as the general explains how debris will be monitored » . Cartwright said the Navy took its first opportunity to hit the satellite and acted before days of expected bad weather may have prevented a missile launch . Cartwright said debris from the satellite was burning up in the atmosphere over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans . This process was expected for the next day or so . Watch a report on the shootdown » . Officials had said the missile would not be fired until the space shuttle Atlantis landed , which it did Wednesday , to ensure debris from the destroyed satellite did n't strike the shuttle . The satellite was launched in December 2006 . It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward , leaving it uncontrollable . The satellite carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor . Because it malfunctioned immediately after being launched , it had a full tank -- about 1,000 pounds -- of frozen , toxic hydrazine propellant . Without intervention , the satellite would have fallen to Earth in early March , officials said . Watch how the failing satellite failed to spark fears » . The fuel tank might have survived re-entry if the satellite had fallen to Earth on its own . It could have dispersed harmful or even potentially deadly fumes over an area the size of two football fields . Hydrazine is similar to chlorine or ammonia in that it affects the lungs and breathing tissue . But some analysts said the Pentagon had reasons other than safety for bringing down the satellite . `` The spy agency does n't want some part of the satellite to fall into the wrong hands , '' Philip Coyle , a former assistant secretary of defense , told SPACE.com . The Web site also reported that Coyle said the shootdown allowed the Pentagon to show off U.S. missile defense capabilities and to prove to China `` we can shoot down a satellite in a test without creating a lot of debris like they did . '' The Chinese military destroyed an aging weather satellite last year . James Jeffrey , deputy national security adviser , denied the allegation that the U.S. was flexing its military muscle . `` This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings , '' he said . But Beijing appears to have doubts . `` China is continuing to closely follow the possible harm caused by the U.S. action to outer space security and relevant countries , '' Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday . `` China further requests that the United States ... promptly provide to the international community the necessary information ... so that relevant countries can take precautions . '' Later Thursday , U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon would share some information on the shootdown with China . In January 2007 , China used a land-based missile to destroy a 2,200-pound satellite that was orbiting 528 miles above the Earth . The impact left more than 100,000 pieces of debris orbiting the planet , NASA estimated -- 2,600 of them more than 4 inches across . The U.S. agency called the breakup of the Fengyun-C satellite the worst in history . In 1989 , a U.S. fighter jet destroyed an American satellite by firing a modified air-to-air missile into space from an altitude of 80,000 feet . That move adds to evidence the U.S. acted Wednesday strictly to guard against the prospect of a potential disaster , Cartwright said . The military timed its shootdown attempt so that resulting debris would tumble into the atmosphere and not interfere with other satellites , said Christina Rocca , a U.S. diplomat and expert on disarmament . Her comments were included in an online U.N. report on this month 's Conference on Disarmament in Geneva , Switzerland . See dangers and possible solutions to the satellite problem » . The military also timed its efforts to minimize the chances that debris would hit populated areas . But the United States is `` prepared to offer assistance to governments to mitigate the consequences of any satellite debris impacts on their territory , '' according to a report of Rocca 's remarks on the Web site of the Geneva office of the United Nations . E-mail to a friend . CNN 's Suzanne Malveaux , Jamie McIntyre and Miles O'Brien contributed to this report .
NEW : We will share some information on shootdown with China . Pentagon : ` ` High level of confidence '' Aircraft scored direct hit on fuel tank . Officials see no debris larger than a football , general says . Pentagon : Most aircraft will burn up on re - entry within two days .