China Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology managed to miniaturize such an
antenna, making it potentially usable on mobile vehicles and even satellites.
The International Space Station is as large as a football field and weighs 400
tons. It is powered by 2,500 m
2
of solar panels providing an average power of
about 100 kW. A space-based laser of 50 kW would need an infrastructure two or
three times larger than the ISS to be effective. In 2013, a publication of the
Changchun Institute of Optics in the Journal of Chinese Optics
62
showed interesting experimental results from a five-ton chemical laser capable of emitting a few
tens of kW even onboard a space station. It is currently unknown if this work is
part of a development program. Within the next few years, Beijing is about to
launch its brand-new orbiting station,
63
which will be six times smaller than the
ISS and could theoretically accommodate a small-scale laser like the one described
in the scientific publication.
64
The US is secretly working on this technology. In 2018, Michael Griffin, former NASA administrator and just-appointed Undersecretary of Defense for
Research, gave a speech in Washington at an event sponsored by the Center for
Strategic and International Studies. In that speech, he declared that progress on the
miniaturization of high-powered lasers to equip drones or satellites had been so
promising that the Pentagon had allocated additional funds to it.
65
Even in this
case, however, there is a lack of concrete evidence for the research in progress, and
any information on these issues must be teased apart by reading between the lines
of a few public statements.
Not many people realize that the United Nations’ Outer Space Treaty,
66
which
has been ratified by 107 nations and explicitly prohibits the deployment of nuclear
or mass destruction weapons in space, does not ban the use of other types of weapons such as hypersonic missiles or lasers. In the twenty-first century, all spacefaring nations will have to deal with the physical protection of their orbiting satellite.
They will likely will have to pursue a double track, first from a diplomatic standpoint by revisiting international treaties, and then from a technological side by
modernizing their own space-based assets.
62
Asia Times. 2017. Light wars: space-based lasers among Beijing’s hi-tech arms.
63
https://thediplomat.com/2018/06/what-chinas-upcoming-space-station-means-for-theworld/.
64
https://spacenews.com/pentagon-report-chinas-space-program-continues-to-mature-rapidly/.
65
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/11/pentagon-wants-more-money-lasersdefend-against-missiles-drone-swarms/152796/?oref=d-river.
66
Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer
Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (General Assembly resolution 2222
(XXI), annex)—adopted on December 19, 1966, opened for signature on January 27, 1967,
entered into force on October 10, 1967.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 111
antenna, making it potentially usable on mobile vehicles and even satellites.
The International Space Station is as large as a football field and weighs 400
tons. It is powered by 2,500 m
2
of solar panels providing an average power of
about 100 kW. A space-based laser of 50 kW would need an infrastructure two or
three times larger than the ISS to be effective. In 2013, a publication of the
Changchun Institute of Optics in the Journal of Chinese Optics
62
showed interesting experimental results from a five-ton chemical laser capable of emitting a few
tens of kW even onboard a space station. It is currently unknown if this work is
part of a development program. Within the next few years, Beijing is about to
launch its brand-new orbiting station,
63
which will be six times smaller than the
ISS and could theoretically accommodate a small-scale laser like the one described
in the scientific publication.
64
The US is secretly working on this technology. In 2018, Michael Griffin, former NASA administrator and just-appointed Undersecretary of Defense for
Research, gave a speech in Washington at an event sponsored by the Center for
Strategic and International Studies. In that speech, he declared that progress on the
miniaturization of high-powered lasers to equip drones or satellites had been so
promising that the Pentagon had allocated additional funds to it.
65
Even in this
case, however, there is a lack of concrete evidence for the research in progress, and
any information on these issues must be teased apart by reading between the lines
of a few public statements.
Not many people realize that the United Nations’ Outer Space Treaty,
66
which
has been ratified by 107 nations and explicitly prohibits the deployment of nuclear
or mass destruction weapons in space, does not ban the use of other types of weapons such as hypersonic missiles or lasers. In the twenty-first century, all spacefaring nations will have to deal with the physical protection of their orbiting satellite.
They will likely will have to pursue a double track, first from a diplomatic standpoint by revisiting international treaties, and then from a technological side by
modernizing their own space-based assets.
62
Asia Times. 2017. Light wars: space-based lasers among Beijing’s hi-tech arms.
63
https://thediplomat.com/2018/06/what-chinas-upcoming-space-station-means-for-theworld/.
64
https://spacenews.com/pentagon-report-chinas-space-program-continues-to-mature-rapidly/.
65
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/11/pentagon-wants-more-money-lasersdefend-against-missiles-drone-swarms/152796/?oref=d-river.
66
Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer
Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (General Assembly resolution 2222
(XXI), annex)—adopted on December 19, 1966, opened for signature on January 27, 1967,
entered into force on October 10, 1967.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 111