Possible anti-satellite payload
However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. intelligence showed that the rocket could be used in the future to carry an anti-satellite payload on a similar trajectory. Neither the U.S. official nor the Pentagon released details of what the Chinese rocket carried into space.
“It was a ground-based missile that we believe would be their first test of an interceptor that would be designed to go after a satellite that’s actually on orbit,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Category Archives: Satellites
US Sees China Missile Launch as Test of Muscle
Posted by Matt
on May 16, 2013
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Astronomers say apparently malfunctioning North Korea satellite could orbit Earth for years | Fox News
Posted by Matt
on December 18, 2012
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A North Korean satellite launched into space last week appears to be malfunctioning but could remain in orbit for several years, a leading expert in the United States said Tuesday.
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Data from trackers in South Africa and Britain suggest the brightness of the satellite has been fluctuating, which indicates it is tumbling as it orbits. That likely means a malfunction in the probe’s stabilizers because it was designed to constantly point toward the Earth.
Mysterious Symbols in China Desert Are Spy Satellite Calibration Targets, Expert Says – Yahoo! News
Posted by Matt
on November 17, 2011
3 comments
It turns out that they are almost definitely used to calibrate China’s spy satellites.
So says Jonathon Hill, a research technician and mission planner at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University, which operates many of the cameras used during NASA‘s Mars missions. Hill works with images of the Martian surface taken by rovers and satellites, as well as data from Earth-orbiting NASA instruments.
Mysterious Symbols in China Desert Are Spy Satellite Targets, Expert Says – Yahoo! News
Who Took Control of Landsat-7 and Terra AM-1 Satellites?
Posted by Matt
on November 17, 2011
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The congressionally created U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission said in its 2011 annual report that at least two U.S. environment-monitoring satellites were interfered with four or more times in 2007 and 2008 via a ground station in Norway.
China’s military is a prime suspect, the bipartisan, 12-member commission made clear, though it added that the events in question had not actually been traced to China.
UPDATE1-US commander cannot pin down satellite anomaly | Reuters
Warning on satellite war
Posted by Matt
on July 25, 2011
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CHINA’S satellite reconnaissance capabilities are rapidly approaching those of the United States and are increasingly geared towards military use, according to a US study.
The study by Eric Hagt and Matthew Durnin, obtained by the Herald, says a war in space between the US and China could be far more devastating than one fought on Earth.
U.S. Military Satellites Achieve ‘Holy Grail’ of Missile Defense – FoxNews.com
Posted by Matt
on April 2, 2011
5 comments
A pair of low Earth-orbiting demonstration satellites built by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems for the first time on March 16 detected and tracked a ballistic missile launch through all phases of flight, a Northrop Grumman official said March 22.
So-called birth-to-death tracking of a ballistic missile launch had never been done before from space — and is the most significant achievement to date for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) spacecraft, said Doug Young, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of missile defense and warning programs.
“It’s the Holy Grail for missile defense,” Young said during a media briefing here.
U.S. Military Satellites Achieve ‘Holy Grail’ of Missile Defense – FoxNews.com
Satellites Support Growing PLA Maritime Monitoring and Targeting Capabilities
Posted by Matt
on February 12, 2011
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New satellites are enhancing Chinese command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities. These systems will enable the Chinese military to strengthen cueing, reconnaissance, communications, and data relay for maritime monitoring and targeting. The successful achievement of high quality real time satellite imagery, target-locating data and fusion, as well as reliable indigenous satellite navigation and positioning would facilitate holding enemy vessels at risk via devastating multi-axis strikes involving precision-guided ballistic and cruise missiles. Emerging space-based C4ISR capabilities could thus greatly increase China’s capability to use military means to assert its interests along its contested maritime periphery.
WikiLeaks: US and China in military standoff over space missiles – Telegraph
Posted by Matt
on February 2, 2011
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… In a formal diplomatic protest, officials working for Condoleezza Rice, the then secretary of state, told Beijing: “A Chinese attack on a satellite using a weapon launched by a ballistic missile threatens to destroy space systems that the United States and other nations use for commerce and national security. Destroying satellites endangers people.”
The warning continued: “Any purposeful interference with US space systems will be interpreted by the United States as an infringement of its rights and considered an escalation in a crisis or conflict.
“The United States reserves the right, consistent with the UN Charter and international law, to defend and protect its space systems with a wide range of options, from diplomatic to military.”
WikiLeaks: US and China in military standoff over space missiles – Telegraph
