US Space Force creates 1st unit dedicated to targeting adversary satellites

[Admin]

The United States Space Force has activated its first and only unit dedicated to targeting other nations' satellites and the ground stations that support them.

US Space Force creates 1st unit dedicated to targeting adversary satellites : Read more

 

[Stateoftheartist]

This is complete insanity. They will trigger the kessler syndrome taking out ALL Earth Orbit satellites and ending any possibility of orbital or space probe launch from earth for thousands of years.

 

[billslugg]

This is not a kinetic program. Only hacking, jamming and blinding of cameras by ground based laser.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

And the Russians and Chinese have a head start on developing the technology. In particular, Russia would like to have a way to take out Starlink satellites to deny Ukraine (or it's next victim neighbor) the ability to communicate, especially the military, but they also want to control the news.

 

[wmshaksper]

The United States Space Force has activated its first and only unit dedicated to targeting other nations' satellites and the ground stations that support them.

US Space Force creates 1st unit dedicated to targeting adversary satellites : Read more

The logo, geez. -_- I thought we were supposed to be the good guys...

 

[Unclear Engineer]

The logo, geez. -_- I thought we were supposed to be the good guys...

I agree that looks like a very unprofessional official logo. Not surprising for a bunch of hackers to dream that up. But surprising that it would be allowed by the government.

 

[xshield]

That is not an approved emblem but a locally created patch. The unit just activated and must route their request for an official emblem through appropriate channels. Patches are derived from a unit’s officially approved emblem.

 

[xshield]

It hasn’t been “approved “ by the government. All emblems route through my office. I’m curious to see when the will seek approval.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

To get back to the actual subject of this type of "warfare", I do have some concerns about the kessler syndrome, even when the attack is non-kinetic. Considering how many Starlink satellites there will be in the final constellation, and how often they already have to maneuver to avoid each other by the prescribed distance, it seems that just disabling a bunch of these satellites would prevent their mutual coordinated collision avoidance and lead to a cascade of collisions. Add to Starlink similar "constellations" of satellites by Russia, China, India and probably others, and coordination is going to become extremely crucial. If a couple of countries start disabling each others' constellations, I think the kessler effect is likely.

Of course, that might end up in the same situation as nuclear warheads - nobody uses them, but everybody needs to have them so that nobody uses them.