The Chinese have successfully tested a new anti-satellite weapon, destroying one of their aging weather satellites. You may recall from this post that the U.S. has been aware of the threat for months, but has kept it quiet as efforts to enlist Chinese support with Iran and North Korea continue.
From SpaceRef:
Details emerging from space sources indicate that the Chinese Feng Yun 1C (FY-1C) polar orbit weather satellite launched in 1999 was attacked by an asat system launched from or near the Xichang Space Center.
The attack is believed to have occurred as the weather satellite flew at 530 mi. altitude 4 deg. west of Xichang located in Sichuan province. Xichang is a major Chinese space launch center.
Although intelligence agencies must complete confirmation of the test, the attack is believed to have occurred at about 5:28 p.m. EST Jan. 11. U. S. intelligence agencies had been expecting some sort of test that day, sources said.
U. S. Air Force Defense Support Program missile warning satellites in geosynchronous orbit would have detected the Xichang launch of the asat kill vehicle and U. S. Air Force Space Command monitored the FY-1C orbit both before and after the exercise.
This capability could, in theory, be used to blind or disrupt U.S. satellites used for reconnaissance or other military purposes, not to mention satellites used for civilian purposes.
The U.S. has condemned the test. From BREITBART:
The United States, Australia and Canada have expressed concern to China over Beijing's successful test in space last week of a satellite-killing weapon, the White House said.
"The United States believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area," said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Japan, South Korea and Great Britain are also expected to tut-tut the Chinese.
The Chinese are clearly out front with some of their new military technology. And they have been flaunting a bit of it, of late. Their submarines have been "caught?" tracking U.S. battle groups at sea. The have employed lasers to blind U.S. satellites and aircraft. They are even testing experimental fusion reactors.
What's next? And what are we doing to keep the playing field even? Not nearly enough, apparently. Hot Air describes how bad the situation really is.
Related posts:
***UPDATED***: There's more analysis at China Matters. And Defense Tech notes:
Meanwhile, one keen space-watcher notes that, if this anti-sat weapon was really "kinetic" -- i.e., hit-to-kill, non-explosive -- instead of a plain ol' exploding weapon, that's extremely bad news. That means the booster rocket has to be very accurate "in order to deliver the kill vehicle to the desired initial trajectory.... Then the kill vehicle needs to tweak its trajectory into a precise collision course using on-board propulsion and either on-board target tracking or... command guidance from the ground." That's no mean task.
Welcome to the space arms race. We have some catching up to do. Defense Tech calls the new sat-killer 'Unstoppable'.
***UPDATED***: China claims the weapon is to "promote the peaceful use of space". From The Times Online:
"As the Chinese Government, our principle stand is to promote the peaceful use of space,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. “We oppose the militarisation of space. In the past, in the present and in the future, we are opposed to any arms race in space. Of this everyone can be confident.”
The reassurances failed to placate jittery Asian neighbours and Western powers, which fear that the surprise Chinese muscle-flexing is part of a campaign to raise its global military posture while raising the spectre of a space arms race.
China is the first country since 1985 to destroy a satellite in space and only the third — after America and the former Soviet Union — to master so-called Star Wars technology. The clear message is that if China can shoot down its own orbiter it could also attack satellites operated by other nations.
Beijing has increased defence spending by 10 per cent every year since 1990. Last year spending rose nearly 15 per cent to $35.5 billion (£18 billion). Experts believe that the true figure is far higher, in part because the official budget does not include military development costs.
Too late for that, I'm afraid.
From The International Herald Tribune:
Some analysts suggested that one possible motivation was to prod the Bush administration to negotiate a treaty to ban space weapons. Russia and China have advocated such a treaty, but President Bush rejected those calls when he authorized a policy that seeks to preserve "freedom of action" in space.
Chinese officials have warned that an arms race could ensue if Washington did not change course.
At a United Nations conference in Vienna last June on uses of space, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official, Tang Guoqiang, called the policies of "certain nations" disconcerting.
"Outer space is the common heritage of mankind, and weaponization of outer space is bound to trigger off an arms race, thus rendering outer space a new arena for military confrontation," he said, according to an official transcript of his remarks.
Even so, Mr. Pollack of the Naval War College said that if China hoped that demonstrating a new weapon of this kind would prompt a positive response in Washington, they most likely miscalculated.
"Very frankly, many people in Washington will find that this validates the view of a China threat," Mr. Pollack said. "It could well end up backfiring and forcing the U.S. to take new steps to counter China."
The world gets more crazy every damned day.
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