Check it out at We Are the Mighty.Since the beginning, the critical focus of India's space programme has been investing in space technologies for the purposes of socioeconomic development. It's military life presented like never before. We Are The Mighty (WATM) celebrates service with stories that inspire. Listen to the cockpit audio of the Navy's infamous 'sky penis' flight See how the Coast Guard trains elite rescue swimmers There are a number of strategies already being developed to counter this form of orbital warfare, like developing a fast-launch infrastructure to replace damaged satellites rapidly and deploying more maneuverable and capable platforms that aren't as susceptible to these simplistic forms of attack… but for the next few decades, that's the reality of our space wars: simple satellite drones nudging, poking, and maybe shooting at one another while we watch from below with bated breath. China has already demonstrated the theoretical ability to do exactly that using ground-based lasers that are invisible to the naked eye. relies on to identify nuclear ballistic missile launches, simply incapacitating a satellite for a few minutes (by pushing it off its axis, for instance) could neuter the nation's ability to spot or intercept inbound nukes. In extreme cases, like the satellites the U.S. Depending on the age and capability of the satellite, that could really be all it took to take it out of commission. Similar methods to the same end would include deploying nets to capture enemy satellites or even simply giving them a push. Space Command could do but watch until the satellite went dark. The entire process would be fairly slow and even mundane to look at, but without any form of defense in orbit, there would be nothing U.S. Eventually, the Russian satellite would just let go and watch its target burn up as it enters the atmosphere. (USAF Photo)Īll an Inspector satellite would need to do in order to poke a hole in America's defensive infrastructure is grab an American satellite with a retractable arm and pull it down into a degrading orbit. Ground based lasers may soon be able to blind satellites temporarily, wreaking havoc with communications, navigation, and early warning systems. This bit of tomfoolery notwithstanding, America, Russia, and China do want to appear as though they're honoring the intent of this treaty, and as a result, orbital weapons often come in the guise of something else entirely. Of course, that hasn't stopped nations like Russia from referencing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty when accusing the United States of violating international norms during ongoing debates about the future of American space defense. China, Russia, and the United States are all among the signatory members of the treaty, alongside a long list of others.Īrticle IV of the treaty bans any signatory nation from deploying nuclear weapons (or other weapons of mass destruction) in orbit, and while other portions of the treaty also attempt to dissuade a real-life remake of Star Wars, the treaty itself bars little else when it comes to weapons. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty outlines what its framers hoped would be the path to peaceful coexistence in orbit and beyond, but the language of the treaty allows for a great deal of latitude when it comes to orbital weapons. That means many of the satellites we rely on for communications, navigation, and defense lack any real means of defending themselves from attack or even moving out of the way of many kinds of danger.ĭeparting Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson aptly described it by saying the United States had built "a glass house before the invention of stones." Like a glass house, our satellite infrastructure is incredibly vulnerable, and now America's opponents have already begun throwing stones. The truth is, America's massive orbital infrastructure was largely deployed in an era with no serious competitors on the horizon.
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