Concerned Scientists calculated a plausible trajectory, considering that the rocket
had taken off from China and circled the Earth before falling back into the Indian
sea. If it had been a small sounding rocket, as declared by Chinese authorities, it
would have had to re-enter the atmosphere in the Pacific Ocean a few thousand
miles away from the launch base. Wright made a new trajectory calculation inserting the parameters of the greater Long March launcher. The new simulation confirmed that Beijing had launched a space launcher and not a sounding rocket,
reaching GEO altitude. That mission was the first anti-satellite test conducted at
that orbit – considered unattainable until then.
Satellites in geostationary orbit are strategic for the armed forces as well as for
commercial companies, generating a turnover of $240 billion.
33
At that moment,
they had become vulnerable. The control and protection of space assets orbiting at
that altitude have therefore become an imperative for the US. In 2015, the Air
Force launched the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness (GSSAP)
satellites,
34
equipped with special sensors to track small moving objects in space.
Cosmic threats include not only incoming missiles from Earth, but also special
orbital manoeuvres in space. A satellite closely approaching another one could
easily carry out an attack. This method is called a Rendezvous & Proximity
Operation (RPO),
35
whose basic techniques have been widely developed since the
sixties to perform the docking in space of manned spaceships in Earth and lunar
orbits.
RPOs may become one of the most frequent tactical operations that superpowers will employ. Special drones could change orbit and reach enemy satellites to
damage, remove or even destroy them. The US, Russia and China have already
been testing this type of manoeuvre for several years.
In 2005, the XSS-11 micro-satellite, built by the Boeing Corporation on behalf
of the Air Force, was launched into LEO orbit by an ICBM Minotaur missile converted into a space launcher, to spot the satellites operating at low altitude with
high-resolution radar. The following year, the Air Force launched two MITEX
(Micro-satellite Technology Experiment) satellites into geostationary orbit to take
videos, through a set of sophisticated optical cameras, of the military DSP-23
satellite, which had been out-of-service for many years.
36
The Air Force deployed in 2020 a game-changing Mission Extension Vehicle
(MEV), which has been officially designed to dock with geostationary satellites
that have run out of fuel. Once connected to its client satellite, MEV uses its own
thrusters and fuel supply to extend the satellite’s lifetime, and when the client no
longer needs its service, the spacecraft can undock and move on to the next one.
33
https://www.sia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/globalearning.jpg.
34
http://www.afspc.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/730802/geosynchronous-space-situationalawareness-program-gssap/.
35
Rendez-Vous & Proximity Operations.
36
https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0901/14dsp23/.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 107
had taken off from China and circled the Earth before falling back into the Indian
sea. If it had been a small sounding rocket, as declared by Chinese authorities, it
would have had to re-enter the atmosphere in the Pacific Ocean a few thousand
miles away from the launch base. Wright made a new trajectory calculation inserting the parameters of the greater Long March launcher. The new simulation confirmed that Beijing had launched a space launcher and not a sounding rocket,
reaching GEO altitude. That mission was the first anti-satellite test conducted at
that orbit – considered unattainable until then.
Satellites in geostationary orbit are strategic for the armed forces as well as for
commercial companies, generating a turnover of $240 billion.
33
At that moment,
they had become vulnerable. The control and protection of space assets orbiting at
that altitude have therefore become an imperative for the US. In 2015, the Air
Force launched the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness (GSSAP)
satellites,
34
equipped with special sensors to track small moving objects in space.
Cosmic threats include not only incoming missiles from Earth, but also special
orbital manoeuvres in space. A satellite closely approaching another one could
easily carry out an attack. This method is called a Rendezvous & Proximity
Operation (RPO),
35
whose basic techniques have been widely developed since the
sixties to perform the docking in space of manned spaceships in Earth and lunar
orbits.
RPOs may become one of the most frequent tactical operations that superpowers will employ. Special drones could change orbit and reach enemy satellites to
damage, remove or even destroy them. The US, Russia and China have already
been testing this type of manoeuvre for several years.
In 2005, the XSS-11 micro-satellite, built by the Boeing Corporation on behalf
of the Air Force, was launched into LEO orbit by an ICBM Minotaur missile converted into a space launcher, to spot the satellites operating at low altitude with
high-resolution radar. The following year, the Air Force launched two MITEX
(Micro-satellite Technology Experiment) satellites into geostationary orbit to take
videos, through a set of sophisticated optical cameras, of the military DSP-23
satellite, which had been out-of-service for many years.
36
The Air Force deployed in 2020 a game-changing Mission Extension Vehicle
(MEV), which has been officially designed to dock with geostationary satellites
that have run out of fuel. Once connected to its client satellite, MEV uses its own
thrusters and fuel supply to extend the satellite’s lifetime, and when the client no
longer needs its service, the spacecraft can undock and move on to the next one.
33
https://www.sia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/globalearning.jpg.
34
http://www.afspc.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/730802/geosynchronous-space-situationalawareness-program-gssap/.
35
Rendez-Vous & Proximity Operations.
36
https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0901/14dsp23/.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 107