{"id":43725,"date":"2020-03-30T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/30\/countries-keep-investing-in-weapons-to-take-out-satellites\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:23:10","slug":"countries-keep-investing-in-weapons-to-take-out-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/03\/30\/countries-keep-investing-in-weapons-to-take-out-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s adversaries keep investing in weapons to take out satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

America\u2019s four greatest adversaries are investing in systems that can take out satellites on orbit, including funding laser systems, nuclear power and satellites that shadow American space vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are each researching counterspace capabilities<\/a> \u2014 kinetic or nonkinetic ways to taking out systems in space \u2014 according to the annual Global Counterspace Capabilities<\/a> report, released by the Secure World Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense News was given an exclusive preview of the report, which will available later today and was edited by Brian Weeden and Victoria Samson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, the report includes data on the space situational awareness<\/a> (SSA) capabilities of countries \u2014 that is, the ability of nations to track what is moving in various orbits. Japan and India are two nations investing heavily in that area, according to the report, while Iran appears to lag behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is important because you can\u2019t protect [against] what you can\u2019t see,\u201d said Samson, the organization\u2019s Washington office director. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean that developing an SSA capability is an indication of an offensive counterspace program, as there are many reasons why you would want that capability. But it is needed if you want to go offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also highlighted the fact that in the last year, four of the countries with counterspace investments \u2014 India, Japan<\/a>, France and the U.S. \u2014 have launched new military organizations<\/a> specifically to deal with space-related issues, including a focus, at least in part, on counterspace efforts. In addition, the NATO alliance declared space an \u201coperational domain\u201d in December<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast majority of counterspace capabilities continue to reside with Russia, China and the United States, but other nations are funding programs as well. France, India, Japan, Iran and North Korea are all known to be at least investing some money in counterspace efforts, whether through ballistic missile programs or non-kinetic means such as cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most prominent counterspace example of the last year came from India, which in March controversially launched<\/a> a missile at one of its satellites, blowing it up and spewing shrapnel around low-earth orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So is a counterspace arms race underway? The authors say no, at least in the context of the nuclear arms race where each country is trying to match the other capability for capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, \u201cthis is about developing a range of offensive and defensive capabilities to go after an opponent\u2019s space assets while protecting your own,\u201d said Weeden, the organization\u2019s director of program planning. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s unfortunately inevitable because more and more countries are using space for military purposes. That drives increased interest in how to counter those uses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Samson, \u201cit now seems that if you want to be considered a major space power, it’s not enough to have your own satellites, or the ability to launch them, or even the ability to launch other country\u2019s satellites. You want your own counterspace capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A man watches Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on a local news channel in New Delhi on March 27, 2019. – India on March 27 destroyed a low-orbiting satellite in a missile test that puts the country in the space “super league”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. (Photo by Prakash SINGH \/ AFP) (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The big three<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Pentagon and White House officials talked about the need for a Space Force last year, leaders emphasized a growing threat in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor all their posturing about who\u2019s \u2018weaponizing\u2019 space, the big three are all working on a lot of the same technologies and doing a lot of the same things,\u201d particularly rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) where satellites can maneuver near another nation\u2019s system, said Weeden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big three in this case are China, Russian and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has run multiple maneuvers with its space-based systems that may be RPO-related, but it\u2019s hard to know whether those capabilities are being developed for counterspace use as opposed to intelligence gathering, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to Chinese capabilities, Weeden said to focus on the ground-based anti-satellite weaponry \u2014 perhaps not a surprise, given China declared itself a player in counterspace technology by destroying one of its own satellites in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beijing is investing in at least one, and perhaps as many as three, kinetic anti-satellite capabilities, \u201ceither as dedicated counterspace systems or as mid-course missile defense systems that could provide counterspace capabilities,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was robustly tested and appears to be operationally deployed,\u201d Weeden said of those capabilities. \u201cAs long as the U.S. still relies on small numbers of very expensive satellites in LEO, I think it will prove to be a significant deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t