The Pentagon has launched what a top defense official described as a “long overdue” effort to develop anti-satellite weapons and protect US national security satellites, as rivals such as China roll out their own advanced space capabilities.
Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced plans to
ratchet up US space capabilities in light of the changing realities
of the militarization of space.
"We have established, really, for the first time, an integrated
effort to bring together our space programs, all of them, with
those folks who understand best the anti-satellite threat, and also
how we can operate, if we have to, without spacecraft," Carter
told the National Press Club on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The initiative seeks to secure US Military and intelligence
satellite systems against potential attacks, and to ensure the
military can operate without them if necessary.
Carter added that the 2014 budget had already accounted for the
initiative, as well as "investments in our own capability to
deny the use of space against our forces in a conflict." He did
not provide further details on the plan.
Satellites are an invaluable lynchpin in US Military operations,
providing a vast array of functions such as communications,
surveillance, navigation and warnings of potential hostile missile
launches.
The initiative follows an 83-page Department of Defense report
released Monday highlighting China’s efforts to modernize its
military.
David Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia,
noted that Beijing is ramping up both its space and cyberspace
capabilities, trends which are likely to continue under the
country's new leadership helmed by President Xi Jinping.
Helvey said that in 2012, China had conducted 18 space launches and
expanded its space-based intelligence, surveillance,
reconnaissance, navigation, meteorological and communication
satellite programs.
“At the same time, China continues to invest in a
multidimensional program to deny others access to and use of
space,” the American Forces Press Service quoted him as
saying.
The report referenced a Chinese military analysis that stressed the
value of “destroying or capturing satellite and other
sensors” in the event of armed conflict.
US concerns over China’s space capabilities have remained high
since a 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test, which saw a missile
launch destroy a Chinese weather satellite in orbit at more than
537 miles above the Earth.
Washington expressed concerns at the time, saying the “testing
of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that
both countries aspire to in the civil space area.”
China responded by insisting it advocates the peaceful use of space
and not its militarization, and that Beijing is opposed to “any
form of arms race.”