Space Wars: It could soon leave the realm of science fiction and become reality.
Last week, the head of the new US military branch, the Space Force, publicly warned for the first time that Moscow had undertaken at least two in connection with anti-satellite weapons tests in recent months, in a possible attempt to develop efficiency in orbit that could dangerously hinder the US’s heavy dependence on space-based systems.
“On July 15, Russia injected a new object into orbit from Cosmos 2543,” the United States Space Force said in a statement. “Russia launched this object near another Russian satellite, (which was) inconsistent with the system’s declared mission as an inspection satellite.”
While the Russian Defense Ministry dismissed the accusation, it is not the first time that the Pentagon has said such an incident occurred.
General John W. “Jay” Raymond, commander of the US Space Command and chief of space operations for the US Space Force, further noted that the Russian satellite system used to conduct this test of Weapons in orbit is the same one that “voiced concerns earlier this year when Russia maneuvered near a United States government satellite.”
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“This is further evidence of Russia’s continued efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and is consistent with the military doctrine published by the Kremlin to employ weapons that keep American and allied space assets at risk.” Raymond continued.
The proclamation that these satellites are part of a space-based anti-satellite weapons system is all the more important given that Cosmos 2542 had moved into a position to shade a US KH-11 spy satellite, publicly identified only as USA 245, in January, Drive War Zone analysis noted.
FILE: General John “Jay” Raymond, the commander of the Air Force Space Command and the Joint Force Space Component Command.
(Clayton Wear / Air Force)
A month earlier, the USA 245 satellite was forced to move its own orbit to avoid a collision with the notorious 2543, which the US Space Force believes was also following the American asset. Then, in April this year, the Space Force also raised warning signs that the Kremlin had conducted tests of an unspecified “direct-rise anti-satellite missile”, also known as DS-ASAT, from its base in Plesetsk in the north. From Russia.
“Russia’s DA-ASAT test provides yet another example that the threats to the United States and allied space systems are real, serious and growing,” Raymond said in a statement after that incident. “The United States is ready and committed to deter aggression and defend the nation, our allies, and American interests from hostile acts in space.”
While targets were not destroyed in the April or July experiments, the pattern, along with the notion of two Russian satellites following an American spy satellite, is enough to spark some anxieties.
“If we stick to the American version, the Russians now have a means of using small satellites to intercept an orbiting target and destroy it,” Miguel Miranda, an Asia-based weapons and security expert, told Fox News. “This is a serious capability because the US Army’s greatest advantage over its rivals is vast command and control plus an intelligence and surveillance network that orbits our planet. Without it, the US Army suffers. and struggles to fulfill its mission. “
In addition, the United States State Department highlighted that issue both in 2018 and again in 2020, saying that “the behaviors of Russian satellites were inconsistent with their stated mission and that these satellites displayed characteristics of a space weapon,” and characterized the behavior as “hypocritical and worrisome”.
Eugene Gholz, an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, also emphasized that, if correct, it is no small feat.
“The ability to weaken the constellations of US military satellites. It would inhibit the ability of the US military to project power away from their homeland, that is, space is an essential part of the army infrastructure from the US For operations against countries like Russia, China and Iran. ” States use space-based intelligence gathering to understand threats to the US homeland (for defense), but the US also uses a lot of space-based capacity to allow the US military Attack on other countries, “he explained.” Other relatively powerful countries like Russia are naturally interested in weakening the ability of the US military to attack them, which naturally lures those countries to find ways to hinder US military space operations. “
The logo of the newly created Space Force.
(AP)
But what is the recently deployed and seemingly troublesome Cosmos 2543, also spelled Kosmos 2543?
Moscow regards him as a “spacecraft inspector,” who merely observes and examines damage to other equipment in orbit. However, given its small stature and mobility, some defense experts suspect that it could also function as a spy or be used to destroy other critical space apparatuses in various ways, including launching projectiles, that the US Space Force. He is accusing his Russian counterparts of drying up. working in recent months.
“The details remain vague on this ‘survey satellite,’ but the main concern is that it may launch small payloads at another orbiting vehicle,” Miranda said. “For that alone, it appears to have an offensive role, and this is what the US military is concerned about.”
Dean Cheng, senior researcher and space expert at The Heritage Foundation, agreed that a big part of the problem is simply that we don’t fully know what Cosmos 2543 is and what it can do.
“It appears to be a mini-satellite, launched from Cosmos 2542. Now, Cosmos 2543 has launched a smaller object,” he noted. “I am not aware that the United States is testing something similar to this. The United States and other states have talked about ‘satellite service’, generally more in terms of systems that could refuel and possibly repair satellites in orbit.”
According to the statement by the US Space Force, Russia’s development and testing of orbital weapons highlights the importance of instituting the US Space Force as a new branch of the armed forces, signed last year as an executive order by President Trump, and the US Space Command, the nation’s unified combat command for space.
“It is a shared interest and responsibility of all nations with space capacity to create the conditions for a safe, stable and operationally sustainable space environment,” the statement continued.
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But what that means in practice remains to be seen, as the two powers have different goals when it comes to developing a protocol.
“Both sides are preparing for a future where killing satellites would be a key capability in war or conflict. The goal is simple: if your opponent is blinded, he cannot attack you. Having weapons that can kill satellites that direct precision attacks Finding potential threats and even waging nuclear war is clearly a game changer, “observed Harry Kazianis, senior director of the Center for National Interest. “They also create the potential for a weapon that could create incentives to attack satellites first in a war, because whoever does it and does it so fast has a good chance of coming out as the winner.”
Washington and Moscow are holding their first discussions on space militarization in Vienna this week. The Wall Street Journal said Trump administration officials hoped the meeting “would lead to the establishment of a set of voluntary rules to operate in space and possibly a new communications channel to link space officials on either side,” while that Russia in contrast “has advocated a formal treaty against the placement of weapons in space, reflecting Moscow’s longstanding push to avoid a possible effort by the United States to develop space-based anti-missile defenses,” leaving clear if an agreement will be reached.
“There is clearly a continuing tension between the United States and Russia, in space but also on the ground. The Russian annexation of Crimea, its support for the ‘little green men’ in eastern Ukraine, its pressure on Georgia and the Baltic states “Everything indicates that its relations with the West will continue to be strained for the foreseeable future,” Cheng said. “Space reflects terrestrial tensions, and there is likely to be more evidence of new Russian weapons as they would like to neutralize the US space advantage in any conflict.”
President Vladimir Putin, left, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, right, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspect warships during the Army Day parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sunday July 26, 2020. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
In addition to boiling space tensions with Russia, the US Space Force also has to contend with China’s influence in the sphere, as it is also actively curing a number of anti-satellite systems. In 2007, Beijing sent a message to its adversaries by firing a kinetic anti-satellite missile to blow up a weather satellite, demonstrating its prowess and generating the worst debris dispersal in the space age thus far.
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Experts warn that the arena of aerospace warfare, while still in its infancy, could quickly emerge as the prominent battleground for substantial conflict in the not-too-distant future. Its dominance is especially crucial to the United States, which relies on space systems for everything from navigation and weapon targeting to intelligence gathering, communications, data exchange and storage, and advanced attack warnings.
“The focus should be on ensuring that the United States always has immediate access to space and can fulfill the space-related missions necessary to help ensure victory in any conflict with any other state, be it China and Russia as great powers, North Korea or Iran as medium powers or terrorist entities, “added Cheng. “Space contributes to operations against any adversary and is vital to the American form of war.”
