#ASM-135 ASAT

[readok]

Единственное испытание противоспутниковой ракеты. Испытательный запуск противоспутниковой ракеты ASM-135 ASAT с истребителя F-15A 13 сентября 1985 года. Самонаводящаяся боевая часть (MHV) общей массой 14 килограмм успешно поразила спутник Solwind P78-1. Столкновение произошло на высоте 555 километров, скорость достигла 6,7 километра в секунду.

[usafphantom2]

A Ling Temco Vought ASM-135 ASAT missile beneath F-15A Eagle during a test flight out of Edwards Air Force Base, CA. (P. Reynolds)

@kadonkey via X

[dendrobium-writes]

Doll named ASM-135 ASAT that protects your home from angels

It is thrown into orbit by another doll named F-15 STOL/MTD.

It enjoys its frequent trips into orbit to protect its Witch from the angels that keep trying to steal her Dolls.

[frogblast-the-ventcore]

13 September 1985, 20:43 UTC. Maj. Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson, flying the "Celestial Eagle" F-15A (sn#: 76-0084) launches an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile, about 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch successfully destroyed the US-built Solwind P78-1 satellite flying at an altitude of 555 kilometres (345 mi). Prior to the launch, the F-15 — flying at Mach 1.22 — executed a 3.8 g zoom climb at an angle of 65 degrees. The ASM-135 ASAT was automatically launched at 11,600 metres (38,100 ft).

Fifteen ASAT missiles were produced, and five were flight tested.

[astrolegal]

I saw that picture of the F-15 firing an ASM-135 ASAT missile and thought it would make a sweet book cover

Some kind of Cold War technothriller or something

So yeah

[skyfire85]

-An ASM-135 slung beneath an F-15A on a captive carry flight. | Photo USAF/Edwards Flight Test Center

FLIGHTLINE: 99 - ASM-135 Anti-satellite Missile

On 13 September 1985 F-15A 76-0084 launched an ASM-135 ASAT which destroyed a satellite in orbit.

Almost immediately after the launch of the USSR's Sputnik satellite, the US began to research anti-satellite weapons. On 13 October 1959, a USAF B-47 launched a modified Bold Orion ALBM which passed within 4 miles of the Explorer 6 satellite, orbiting at an altitude of 156 miles. Starting in 1962, modified Nike Zeus ABMs were tested as ASAT weapons under Project MUDFLAP, with mixed results. Intelligence reports of renewed Soviet interest in their own anti-satellite system pressured President Jimmy Carter into directing the USAF into developing a new ASAT missile. A 'crash' program initially designated the Prototype Miniature Air-Launched Segment (PMALS), then retitled the Air-Launched Miniature Vehicle (ALMV), resulted in a contact being awarded to LTV Aerospace for an air-launched, multi-stage missile.

-A CASM-135, used for captive carry trials, on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. | Photo: G. Edward Johnson

-Cross section of the ASM-135's upper stage and MHV. | Illustration Sven's Space Place

-Cutaway view of the ASM-135's MHV. | Illustration: Sven's Space Place

The ASM-135 was mainly comprised of off-the-shelf components, allowing a rapid development and production. The first stage was a modified AGM-69 SRAM, while the second stage was an Altair 3, originally developed for the Scout launch vehicle. The third stage of the ASAT was the Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV), which incorporated a Honeywell laser ring gyro and a Hughes-developed IR sensor. The seeker was eight strips of indium bismuth arranged in a precise formation to track targets as the MHV spun. Two liquid helium dewars, one in the F-15 (replacing the ammunition drum) and a second smaller tank in the MHV, cooled the sensor head. A ring of 56 solid rocket motors set around the MHV's circumference, controlled by a "bang-bang" system, guided the vehicle at the target, while 8 lower thrust "end-game" motors provided fine control just prior to impact. A group of four RCS motors at the back of the stage maintained a stable spin. The MHV did not include a warhead, the MHV's own momentum was sufficient to destroy the target in what is known as a kinetic kill.

A typical mission would see the ASM-135 mounted underneath an F-15. The fighter's computers would be programed with the target's orbital path, and the HUD would provide steering instructions to the pilot. The Eagle, flying at Mach 1.32, would then execute a 65° climb while the IR sensor scanned for the target. Upon acquisition, the missile would automatically launch at approximately forty thousand feet. Prior to release from the second stage, the ASAT would be spun up to 30rpm, then separated. This spinning motion allowed the IR seeker to see the target as it crossed the detector strips, providing course-correction data.

Five total test launches were carried out, in addition to an unknown number of captive-carry flights beforehand. The first test, on 21 January 1984, did not include an MHV, but proved that the rest of the missile worked. A second test on 13 November of that year was aimed a star, but the MHV failed to track. On 20 August 1985 President Ronal Reagan authorized a test against a satellite ahead of a Congressional ban on ASAT testing, expected later that year. In order to complete the test in so short a time, an existing satellite, the Solwind solar observatory, was designated as the target.

-The Solwind satellite, prior to launch. | Photo: NASA

On 13 September 1985, Maj. Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson, flying F-15A, tail no. 76-0084 and nicknamed the "Celestial Eagle", launched an ASM-135 ASAT about 200 miles west of Vandenberg AFB. The 30lb MHV collided with the Solwind, which itself weighed a ton, at closing velocity of 15,000mph, destroying the satellite.

-The ASM-135 separates from F-15A 76-0084 on its sole live mission. | Photo: Paul E. Reynolds (USAF)

-Seconds later, the 1st stage motor fired as the F-15 banked away. | Photo: Paul E. Reynolds (USAF)

In addition to proving that the ASAT worked, the test also provided NASA with data on the results of a hypervelocity impact in space, as well as changing thinking on orbital debris. It had been previously assumed that debris caused by a collision would be reflective and easily tracked, but the results of the test proved that, in fact, the pieces were so dark as to be almost undetectable visually, the result of soot from vaporized plastics and other compounds. Of 285 known pieces of Solwind, only two could be seen by optical tracking, the rest identified by USAF IR telescopes and a reentry radar deployed to Alaska. The rubble also did not persist in orbit for as long as predicted, with all but eight pieces having reentered by 1998, the result of increased heating and expansion of the atmosphere due to solar activity.

Two further tests were completed on 22 August and 29 September 1986, though both were directed against stars to comply with the prohibition against live tests. The USAF intended to procure 112 ASM-135s, with 20 F-15A fighters, from the 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron based at McChord Air Force Base in Washington and the 48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron based at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, modified for the anti-satellite mission. However, the program was canceled in 1988, the result of increasing costs and push-back against the wider SDI program.

Fifteen ASM-135s and CASM-135 captive carry simulators were produced, and two of the CASM-135s are on display, one at the USAF Museum in Dayton Ohio, and the other at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

The Celestial Eagle was restored to F-15A standards and remained in the USAF inventory, eventually assigned to the 125th Fighter Wing at Homestead AFB in Florida. Doug Pearson, now a retired Major General was reunited with -0084 on 13 September 2007 when he, along with his son (who is also an F-15 driver), visited the 125th as part of a USAF event to commemorate the mission. The aircraft was mothballed at AMARG in 2009 as the 125th transitioned to F-15Cs.

-Retired Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson (left) and Capt. Todd Pearson (right), 390th Fighter Squadron pilot from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, with the Celestial Eagle. | Photo: Senior Airman Erik Hofmeyer (USAF)

Though the USAF did not take the ASAT operational, the missile did play a part in the 1986 Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising, where it was used to destroy several Soviet satellites during a brief hot war between the USSR and NATO.

[isaackuo]

Solid Rocket Space Missile Guidance Reconsidered …

Most current space missiles use four liquid/gas divert thrusters arranged up/down/left/right.

But the old ASM-135 ASAT used a bunch of solid rocket thrusters with nozzles arranged around its waist.

https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/images/collection-objects/record-images/T20140036000cp01.jpg

You can see that the 64 solid rocket tubes are actually parallel to the body, but their nozzles are pointed outward sideways from the center of each tube. 56 of the thrusters are high thrust, while 8 of them are lower thrust for more fine adjustments. The entire MHV rotates at 30 revolutions per second, so continued thrust in a single direction is possible.

The Strix anti-tank mortar round uses a similar divert thruster system, with 12 solid rocket waist thrusters.

Well, for future space combat missiles, why not return to this style of solid rocket guidance? Compared to liquid/gas thrusters, I think solid rocket units could have better acceleration, and the delta-v is not necessarily much worse when you consider the 45 degree penalty of thrusting “between” the four cardinal directions.

Instead of a single layer of somewhat flattened nozzles, I imagine two staggered layers of bell nozzles, one slightly angled forward and the other slightly angled rearward so they all point through the center of mass. And each solid rocket chamber could be partitioned into 4 charge pulses. That way, you could have 64 efficiently large nozzles and 256 charges - some bigger and some smaller.

Compared to a liquid/gas thruster system, this is perhaps cheaper to mass produce and less maintenance. It might also be more compact. But I think the really interesting advantage is that it could be used for a gun launched projectile rather than boosted by a rocket. The projectile might have a stealthy flat face. Note that a gun would typically need to lead the target by a lot in space, so this face will not reflect radar/lidar beams directly back to the target. The face might be pointed, say, 30 degrees away from the target.

This could be an extreme challenge to defend against. It might be impossible to target an incoming guided projectile until it lights up a divert thruster. You might be compelled to perform an occasional evasive maneuver simply to force incoming projectiles to divert.

For guidance, a rear facing receiver could be used for command guidance and/or receive navigation beam data. For example, a beam spiral scanning around the target could implicitly guide multiple projectiles by informing of their relative location compared to the target.

More thoughts on implications for space combat maneuvering and engine/weapon layout to come…

[youzicha]

In the mid-1970s the U.S. started to consider developing anti-satellite weapons. At some point (1978?) the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up a list of the Soviet satellites to be attacked circa 1985, and the list was subsequently leaked to the Washington Post:

Priority 1: The most important Soviet satellite targets are the "electronic ocean reconnaissance satellites" ... to be knocked out "as soon as possible" after an outbreak of hostilities.

Priority 2: Salyut space station ... photographic reconnaissance satellites ... navigation satellites ... communications satellites.

Priority 3: There are only two types of Soviet satellites in this category, and the time limit for their destruction is 48 hours, like the Priority 2 targets. These are nine meteorological satellites that provide important weather information, and two surveillance satellites that can keep track of any U.S. launchings of satellites or missiles.

A system to kill all soviet satellites would have been very expensive, so eventually the ASM-135 ASAT only targeted low-orbit satellites such as the ocean reconnaissance. But what I find most interesting is that the generals wanted to destroy Soviet early warning satellites in the first 48 hours of a war. The Soviets were very concerned about their vulnerability to a first strike, and tried to build a launch-under-attack capability. Meanwhile, discussions about adopting LUA in the U.S. noted that attacks on warning sensors would tickle the tiger's tail:

Measure can also be taken to insure the survival of satellites. For instance, they could be provided with sensors to allow them to determine when they were under attack [...] Last, the United States might not choose to show patience indefinitely with persistent Soviet attacks on our warning sensors, particularly if we had chosen to rely on LUA as the guarantor of our land-based missiles.

This seems like another example (like targeting missile submarines) where the U.S. political leadership maybe believes in deterrence but the military plans to fight and win.

[sa-993]

The ASM-135 ASAT is an air-launched anti-satellite multistage missile that was developed by Ling-Temco-Vought's LTV Aerospace division. The ASM-135 was carried exclusively by United States Air Force (USAF) F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft.

Main mission: Destroy soviet satellites 🛰

[after-skies-ananthology]

I'm a member of the President's new space force, here's what I've seen so far

BLACK SKY WARS

the second part

approx. 5 yrs ASE

You ever been inside a Colorado police station before? Here’s a better question, have you ever had to pick up your troubled brother from a Colorado police station before? If you have, then you may be able to sympathize with my plight that day. I had been waiting there since 1300 for him to be released. Our parents died about a year after I left for the Army. We have very few relatives who cared about us (my parents were pretty much the blacksheep of their families), so it was of course down to me to take care of him. It’s probably for the best that it happened this way I suppose. Being in the military, I get all sorts of benefits and on-base housing necessary to help raise him until he’s an adult. Which makes one side of that equation easy. The other side, the actually parenting him side, well, I just don’t know. He’s about 16 now. Gets in fights all the time. I think he may be apart of some anarchist punk gang that spray paints public property and vandalizes abandoned areas or some shit like that. I can’t really keep up with it. We barely see each other. He’s never home. I think - well, I mean, I’m never home.

I had volunteered for an earlier transition into the Space Corps than the rest of my unit after being offered a lucrative bonus. I’ve been an E-6 for three years now. And I’d say with confidence that I’m pretty good at my job. My military job, not my parenting one, that is. I suppose the military offered me that bonus for my skills in tracking space objects and directing joint partners against spaceborne threats - not my skills in guiding my brother through life and giving him a chance to feel like a happy, successful adult. I apologize for how depressing I must sound. But I’m doing the best I can. And I’m starting to think the best I can do is not good enough. I feel like the more successful I am in the military, the more I fail my little brother as his guardian.

The cops had called me while I was at work. Me and the newest member of my section were going over Counterspace Academics, which is the term we use for the death by powerpoint sessions we put our people through every now and then just to make sure they still know their job. It is ungodly boring stuff sometimes. Basic shit everyone knows out of tech school. The NCOIC for our flight was droning on about one of the first anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) tested by the United States back when women still wore shoulder pads. The ASM-135 Bold Orion II. Basically a converted nuclear cruise missile with it’s warhead taken out, and replaced with a hardened micro-satellite that would detach from it once in orbit and then proceed to smash into its target like a hockey player. The Air Force was even successful in taking out one of its own failed satellites with the 135, proving it could work. However, due to the death of the Soviet Union, and increasing skepticism surrounding the Strategic Defense Initiative, the project was quietly cancelled. That was until defense industry executive and weapon designer “extraordinaire” Frank Monterrey stuck his nose in it.

Mad Monterrey cried foul before the ink even dried on the cancellation orders. He then proceeded to cry foul for over a decade after that. In the 90s and early 2000s, he would even buy late night air time on a few of the major networks to present his case for renewed ASAT development and even - you guessed it - an independent space branch of the military. Today, my unit is responsible for the direction and employment of the fruits of his ‘labor’. The General Systems ASM-270 Orion’s Revenge. This one is not only faster than the 135, but it has more destructive potential as well. After passing through the mesosphere and into the thermosphere, its first stage detaches allowing its second stage to engage briefly for several seconds in a wild fireball. After this initial burst of flames is over, the rotors attached at the nose unfold from the missile’s remaining fuselage like a parasol. Small angled tip jets located at the end of each rotor blade then ignite, allowing the weapon to adjust its velocity as it enters orbit.

As it approaches the vicinity of its prey, the tip jets deactivate. At this point, the missile’s rotors (made of a special hardened alloy) can be used to permanently damage or completely destroy whatever they impact. After a few goes, whatever rotors remain can be used to steer the ASAT to its final target using its last bit of fuel - killing the adversary space object with a kinetic blow via the tungsten encased cone that constitutes its nose. Using this method, the 270 is capable of targeting a small constellation of targets (usually three to five objects, depending on size). Because of how it unfolds after launch, those in our unit have taken to calling it the The Killer Umbrella.

Sorry, I feel like I went off on a tangent there. We’re supposed to be talking about my brother. His name is Jerry. Our mom named him that because... Um, well, I’ll be honest I can’t remember now. She told me once when I was younger but, I don’t seem to have soaked it in. Let’s see, I know he skateboards. And, well, I think he likes to vape (maybe?). I know he listens to that genre of music on the internet, vaporwaver, or something like that? That’s... probably why I think he vapes. This is kind of embarrassing to admit but - I’m supposed to take care of him, and I’ve been taking care of him for quite some time now, and yet I don’t know a thing about him with any certainty. I can talk for days about this missile I’ve only seen pictures of in a class room, give you every little detail of its development and even the politics surrounding it, but I can’t be bothered to even invest a minutia of time into figuring out who he is or the kind of young man he’s developing into. I guess I shouldn’t blame anyone other than myself when he gets in trouble like this.

It took me about thirty minutes to leave base and arrive at the police station. I walked up to the sheriff’s deputy sitting at the front desk and asked him my question, “Hi there, my name is Wesley Fervek. I received a call telling me my little brother Jerry has been arrested?”

The deputy looked me up and down, dressed in my OCPs, with new Space Corps regalia adorned upon it. He replied, “Uhh yeah, the little skater asshole, spat at me when they brought him and his punk friends in.”

I scratched the back of my head and tried to save face, “I’m really sorry he did that. I think he may just have a lot of adrenaline and peer pressure going through him right now. He’s really not like this.”

“Right.” The deputy said as he rolled his eyes, picking up the phone at his desk. “Ray, its Diaz, skater asshole’s brother is here to pick him up...“ He looked back up at me, noticing the name tape on my left chest that read U.S. SPACE CORPS. He joked to his friend over the phone, “Oh, scratch that, Buzz Lightyear’s bottom bitch is here to pick him up.” He began to chuckle as he threw the phone back down into its place, forming a shit eating grin as he looked at me and said, “Hey man, relax. I’m just having a little fun at your expense. He did spit at me after all.”

I kept back the urge to throw my fist through the glass that separated us. “Right.” I said back to him. “So I take it he’s not being charged with anything?”

He said, “That’s right, one of his little friends was the one that actually assaulted someone. With a knife no less. From what the victim told us, your brother tried to calm things down. Anyways, you can have a seat over there while my friends finish questioning him.” He pointed to rows of wooden chairs behind me, arranged to face the bulky box TV that belonged to some other era of history.

I furrowed my brow and said “Thanks” under my breath, trying to prevent my anger at this prick from swelling out of control. I sat down in one of the front chairs and checked my phone, I saw that I had received a text from one of my troops. Her name was Space Specialist First Class June Alvarez, and she was one of many to be the first to attend Space Corps basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. Her text read, “Sergeant, I know you had to go to the police station, but could you hurry back? The powerpoint is over and we’re back to work now, but I’m still pretty lost on some of the telemetry stuff you were showing me earlier and no one really wants to help me at the moment.”

I texted her back, “I’ll be as fast as I can but these cops are being assholes right now. Go get Sergeant Flores, I know she’s studying for her 7-level test, but if you really are in dire need of help right now she shouldn’t be too mad that you’re interrupting her.”

I sat back and stared at the blurry, horribly antiquated machine in front of me as it spewed out ad after incessant ad. One featuring a beautiful young bikini-clad blonde sipping a Sodaco amidst a conga line on the beach - Introducing Sodaco Lime, the voice-over said, the familiar taste that America trusts with a refreshing twist. Another featuring footage taken from the Armstrong moon base, with the ERAS logo in the corner, finally centering on the company’s CEO with a drink in his hand as the music from 2001 plays in the background. This time the voice-over said - Mental is now the official soft drink of ERAS CEO Hood Fisher, what’s yours? Get Mental or get out! Finally, a less annoying one appeared after that was over. This time featuring supersonic airliners elegantly passing through clouds set to the tune of a soothing score. The voice-over asked, With a safety record and time to destination like ours, just remind us again - Why wouldn’t you fly Air Virginia?

After that hell of hokey commercials was past, the news returned. The commentator was grey-haired, bespectacled, and wearing a dark blue tie, signifying his well-known outspoken support for the Alliance Party. “Breaking at the top of the hour, our coverage continues on the situation in the Indian Ocean as it now appears attack boats belonging to the New Indies Construction Front have besieged a Navy hospital ship attempting to relieve wounded and dead from evacuated American and allied forces that escaped Diego Garcia last week...” He then proceeded to go into a long rant about the President and the Homeland Party while talking over a reporter who was live from the scene. The TV signal must have become distorted somehow, because eventually I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. It was as if he was mumbling. The picture on the screen blurred out even more, making the images depicted indiscernible. I began to feel weird physically. Light headed. I’m not sure if it was the stress of the day or the fact that I had been sitting there a while or what, but I had this gnawing sense of danger in the pit of my chest. The room became bright, and for a second, I thought I saw some sort of indescribable shape appear out from behind the TV.

All of the sudden, I heard a voice speak to me. not from any direction, but as if from all directions.

“You must wait to hit your target until 1935. No later. Do not let the girl with the long legs see what you are doing.“

I woke up out of my trance, shouting “What?” as I realized nothing was behind the TV. I was in a cold sweat now. I felt as though I had just woken up early in the morning. I looked outside, the sun was beginning to go down. How long was I out? Was I ‘out’? The program I was watching was over now, the blue haired woman with the FPML button on her lapel was on instead. Knowing that she comes on quite a few program slots after the old guy with the dark blue tie, I inferred that I must have napped for... four hours? “What the fuck?” I said out loud as I quickly took out my phone. It was dead. “Not good.” I said to myself.

Just then the door to the detention area opened. I turned my head and saw Jerry. “Alright, we’re done questioning the little punk.” The deputy from before said, pushing Jerry forward into the waiting room. He was holding his favorite skateboard in his hands, gifted to him by our dad many Christmases ago, now broken in half.

Jerry turned around a gave him the middle finger. “Lick my ass, pig!”

I shouted at him. “Jerry! Knock that shit off. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He turned and saw me, now becoming even angrier. Everything became silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke up and said “Can we just get the hell out of here? I’m tired of smelling pork.” He looked back at the cop and gave him a scowl.

I grabbed him by the shoulder, “Be quiet so we can leave, moron.”

He flinched and brushed my hand off. “I don’t need your stupid ass advice.” He said angrily, and walked threw the doors outside to the parking lot. I followed him.

As he approached my truck, I unlocked it for him so he could get inside. But before he did, he slammed the remnants of his board into the bed of the pick-up. I yelled at him again, “Could you not throw shit around like that? This is my truck! I paid for it. It’s what gets you to school!”

He yelled at me in turn, “Could you shut the fuck up for once? Goddamn you’re so fucking annoying.“ Slamming the passenger side door on me before I could say anything back.

Not wanting to take this any further, I walked around to the driver’s side. As I started the engine, I realized from before that my phone was dead. I plugged it into to my car charger. I noticed then Jerry had a tear rolling down the side of his face. I know he must have been upset by the whole ordeal. I tried to speak to him, beginning to verbalize his name, but before I could get anything else out my phone reactivated and alerted me with a series of text message and missed call alerts. My attention was fixated on that now as I realized I had missed over thirty text messages from seven different people and eighteen phone calls from Alvarez, Flores, and my NCOIC.

I opened Alvarez’s most recent message. “Sergeant, where are you? The NCOIC has been trying to call you for two hours now. He needs you to get down here quick! I’m not gonna say why because OPSEC, but get down here! Please!”

I let out one long “Fuck!” as I read that. Jerry wiped his face with his shirt and asked “What now?”

Without answering I bolted the truck out of the parking space and started driving back to base twenty or thirty miles over the speed limit. Jerry kept trying to ask me questions on the way there, realizing there was something wrong, but I refused to talk to him. I just kept dropping F bombs over and over as I swerved in and out of potential car crashes on the way back to the squadron control room. We finally got to the gate, and I hurriedly took out my CAC card and gave it to the Security Forces guy standing outside my truck. The airman scanned it and said, “His too please.” Pointing at Jerry.

I screamed at my brother, “Come on give me your goddamn ID!”

He screamed back “Alright! Calm down. Jesus.”

The airman looked calm as I had my episode. I gave him the ID to scan, and he let us on our way. Arriving at my unit’s building, I cut someone in a muscle car off before they could take the space that I wanted. I left the windows rolled down, turned the engine off and hopped out. Jerry was still inside. He shouted at me, indignant, “How goddamn long are you gonna be?”

I cringed, turning to him as I took my wallet out, removing my CAC card and security badge from it. I threw it at him and said “If you want dinner, walk down to the BX and get something from the food court!” I booked it into the building.

As I ran up to the polarized bullet proof glass doors protecting the world of my profession from prying eyes outside, I saw the sign placed just before the steps proudly displaying our squadron’s battle cry below our new service’s motto. The former read “WE MAINTAIN THE BALANCE”, with the latter exclaiming “SECURE THE HIGH GROUND”. I pulled on the door handle, rushing inside as I was met with another Security Forces airman who needed to check my security badge before letting me through. After being let inside, I sprinted down the hallway to the control room where my work station was. There were five people crowded around it. The NCOIC, Alvarez, and two women in Class B uniforms who were unfamiliar to me. There name plates read “Hayek” and “Hayek-Song” respectively, which made me wonder if they were siblings or something. The one with the hyphenated surname was an E-6 like me, which is called a Color Sergeant in the Space Corps. The other one was an officer, O-3, a Captain. They were almost twins, I thought to myself. And extremely attractive to boot.

The NCOIC looked at me and yelled, “Where the hell have you been?“

I tried to explain, exasperated. “I’m sorry Sergeant my phone died and somehow I got knocked out-“

He cut me off. “I don’t want to hear it right now. I’m frankly shocked you’d display this kind of behavior. We’re gonna have a long talk after today, I can tell you that much. Sit down and help Alvarez out. She needs it.”

“Roger Sergeant.” I said, defeated. I sat down next to Alvarez in my swivel chair as he walked up the steps to where the commander and the other higher-ups were. Sergeant Flores was at the work station in front of us tracking something else.

I asked the Space Specialist, “So what the hell happened?”

Alvarez explained, “Well after I texted you, me and Sergeant Flores started tracking one of those Chinese space flights they’ve been doing for awhile now. I know they’re just testing, but this time they went near New America. Two of them in fact. It was kind of like that thing they did last week when they overflew Armstrong, but not as bad as that time when they almost smashed into that damaged MS-1A we were monitoring.”

I asked, “Ok, so... what happened? Did they do something belligerent?”

“No,” she said, “they’ve just been sitting there doing some EVA. Sergeant Flores is still tracking them. I think they’re about to pack up and leave right now actually.”

I was confused. “Ok, then what’s the problem exactly?” I demanded to know.

She groaned, “That!”, pointing at the big screen in front of the entire room.

Depicted on it was an amorphous object. I can’t really describe it effectively. But it looked strangely familiar. It was black, resembling a cloak without a wearer maybe. I’m not sure. I was looking directly at it, but it was also as if I wasn’t at the same time. Like how things blur out in the periphery of your vision, only this was smack dab in front of me. I asked, lost for words, “What is that Al?”

She responded, “After we were able to get a fix on them Pine Gap contacted us. They wanted to know if we could check to see if there were any foreign space assets near one of their surveillance satellites that had become unresponsive. That’s when we found it. It wasn’t doing anything really, it was just sort of, near it. We gathered some basic information about its position and size as it moved on towards a commercial satellite in the vicinity. It stayed there for a while, but then it just darted out of view towards L5 without any warning.”

“Towards the Chinese?” I asked. She nodded her head. “Well, what is it then? Some PLA weapon we’ve never seen before?” I asked again.

“No, I-” She stuttered. “I-I think they’re as confused as we are. As soon as it showed up behind the construction site for the orbital settlement, they stopped doing maneuvers and started observing it. It detached... something just before you got back and one of them got out to capture it we think. But whatever split off from it seems to have disappeared somehow. I don’t know. This all very strange Sergeant.“

I looked up at the two women with the similar last names. I leaned over to whisper in Alvarez’s ear. “Who are those two?”

“They’re from Virginia, or something.” She said under her breath.

“What?” I said. I began to feel as though this was too much for a day like today.

“That’s what I said. I think maybe they’re Intel people, but I’m not sure. But the thing is they showed up with all this data on the object. It’s usual orbit trajectory, flight path history, more detailed dimensions, frequencies it operates on, tons of stuff we would have never figured out ourselves. It’s almost like they’ve been tracking it for years.”

That’s when the Captain interjected. “Talking about us kids?”

My eyes widened. “No Ma’am! I mean... I’m sorry, I forget my rank.”

She reassured me, “It’s quite alright Sergeant, I know this must be a lot to take in. I don’t blame you.” She turned to her friend next to her and said “Constance, go chat up the commander for a bit I think he feels left out. I have this handled over here.”

“Yes Ma’am.” The Color Sergeant affirmed, and walked off.

The captain sat down in an empty chair next to me, crossing her legs and planting her heels on the desk in front of us. For a second, she managed to distract me. Alright, cut me some slack. I am a guy after all. But she didn’t distract me for long. Her voice broke my concentration. “Specialist, we’re probably going to need you guys to start making some calls to get something scrambled here pretty soon.“

“Yes Ma’am, I’m sending a request out to NORAD right now.” Alvarez responded.

“Good girl.” The Captain complimented (or belittled) her. I could tell it irritated Alvarez somewhat. “Sergeant could you double check something for me?“ She asked.

“Yes Ma’am, what?“

She went on, “The commercial satellite the object interacted with earlier. Could you find out who it belongs to?“

“Roger that Ma’am.” I typed away at my keyboard, collecting the information for her. I pulled the satellite’s designation up on my screen. “ERAS-1212-0“ I said aloud. I crosschecked its name on the government’s registry of civilian-owned space assets. “It says its owned by ERAS ma’am, but it has some sort of note under its listing... let’s see... Here, it says its a broadcast satellite operated by ERAS and contracted out to a television provider.“ I lingered on those last few words. Television provider. My mind went back to what I saw earlier before. I wasn’t sure if I should tell anyone or not.

“Hmm... Thank you Sergeant.” The Captain said, and pulled out her government phone to begin texting someone on it.

Just then Sergeant Flores spoke, pointing at the screen in a panic. “Look!” The object was suddenly in front of one of the Shenlongs she had been tracking. The other Shenlong, it seemed, was running away from the situation - leaving its comrade behind.

“How the hell did it get there?“ The NCOIC said out loud. “Flores are they still doing EVA?“ He asked.

“I can’t tell Sergeant, that thing’s messing up all our sensors. I can’t even contact the other monitors we have nearby... Wait! Look what it has!” The Sergeant blew up what she was referring to on the big screen. It was a tungsten rod, used for construction of one of the orbital settlements. It wasn’t holding it, but it was as if it were orbiting the object itself, like it was its own planet or something.

The Captain stood up from her seat and started to sound a bit panicked. “Holy shit. Sir, it’s what I said before. It’s going to conduct a kinetic strike. Probably for here!”

The commander nodded at her and took control. “Alright people, it’s the fourth quarter, and this is the ten yard line with our backs to our own end-zone. Sergeant Fervek, what’s going on with NORAD?”

Alvarez butt in before I could respond. “They just got back to us Sir. There’s a couple of F-15s out of Oregon that can be ready to go in 90 minutes.”

“Not good enough, we need something in less than 60 or we aren’t gonna make it out of this alive.” He informed her.

I looked at the information NORAD had supplied us with, and interjected. “Sir, there’s a pair of Aggressors out of Nellis on TDY flying back from Miramar right now.”

“Yeah, so?” He questioned me.

“Well Sir, they’re less than 10 minutes away from Edwards at the moment. We could have them land there to be fitted with the 270s Edwards still has on hand. They could be armed and back up in the air within 40 to 50 if everything goes right.“ I explained.

He looked unsure. He gave a skeptical glance to the NCOIC. Just before he could say something back, the Captain intervened. “Sir, this sounds like the best option we have at the moment. If the information I briefed you on earlier is right then I don’t think we have a lot of time on our hands to play footsie with NORAD all day.”

He looked over the room contemplating her answer, reading all our faces. “Alright... Alright, call them up and get it going. No more screwing around with this thing.” He said with a cautioned tone in his voice.

About 60 minutes later we were ready to go. The F-15s had taken back off from Edwards, and headed towards Death Valley at supersonic speeds. An AWACS from NORAD patched in their position to us, and relayed a comm link with the flight lead. I had everything at my station ready to go. Alvarez would keep tabs on the object’s movements, while I would guide the F-15s into position and provide them with the necessary targeting information to input into the ASM-270′s ‘brain’. Captain Hayek would continue to observe and advise us from behind. I looked back at the commander for a quick second, he saw me and said “You got this Sarge. Take this bastard out.“ I nodded to him in affirmation.

I put the headset on and keyed up the comm link with the pilot. “Breaker 11. This is Bighorn Control. Do you read me?”

“Roger that son, this is Breaker 11 and 12, we’re packing heat now and ready to enter our climb.” The pilot explained.

“That’s perfect Sir. Object hasn’t moved so far, and if it stays that way we shouldn’t have to waste a second shot.“ I brought the object up on my screen, taking note of the information Alvarez had just collected on it. “Alright Breaker 11, Bighorn Control says you can initiate your climb. Please notify me when you reach angels 30.”

“Copy that Bighorn. We should be there in about 15 to 20 mikes.“ The pilot radioed back.

The wait for them to get into position was shorter than expected, but grueling all the same. We were at 75 minutes now with a gun pointed at our head. The object stayed in place, tungsten rod still circling it like a late night mugger with knife in hand. My chest was pounding, throat lumpy, head splitting open from all the stress of the situation. Finally the pilot radioed back in. “Alright Bighorn Control, angels 30. Awaiting orders.“

“That’s great news Breaker 11. Pulling the target’s orbital position up now.“ I then gave him the necessary numbers. After a small conversation between him and his wingman I could hear through the headset, he responded again.

“Alright Bighorn, Breaker 12′s telling me he’s locked and loaded.” He said.

“Alright Sir. Hit angels 32 and fire away!” I informed him.

The aircraft climbed a bit more. The sky must have been the darkest shade of blue anyone could imagine at that point, I thought to myself. The wingman screamed over the radio, “BREAKER 12, FOX 5!“ The missile detached from the centerline pylon of the aircraft, the F-15 breaking away and turning around back towards Earth as its first stage ignited. We picked the missile’s location up on our side, tracking it on the big screen. At my work station however I had more specific information about the weapon’s speed, velocity, its ultimate target, and when its first stage would separate. I looked at the clock on my computer. 1908 hrs.

Again I thought back to the events earlier that day. Something was gnawing at me again, deep in the pit of my chest. At this rate, the object should be struck before 1935. That should be good. But why do I feel like it’s not? Perhaps it’s just the stress again. I’m sure. But... God, oh God. I can’t. Something isn’t right. I can’t let this continue. I can’t let it happen before... Before. Before 1935. I looked over my shoulder at the Captain, she was acting as though she was watching the missile’s flight path on the big screen like everyone else. But I knew she was taking glances at what I was doing here and there... Why? Did.. she know? How could she know? I hovered my cursor over the control for the missile’s first stage. I typed in what I knew to be the incorrect separation point. My ring finger glided over to the enter key and stayed there. I looked back over my shoulder again. She was locking eyes with me now. I looked past her, glazing my eyes over, as though I let something inside of me take over my actions.

“Sergeant?” She questioned softly. I don’t think anyone else could hear her. “Sergeant!“ She said again, under her breath.

I pressed the enter key.

The first stage detached before the correct altitude could be reached. No matter what the second stage tried to do at this point, it would never be able to reach orbit, and was thus a failure. Everyone in the room began to scream, questioning what happened. I threw Alvarez under the bus, saying that she must have given me the wrong altitude. She looked confused, and upset that I would betray her like that. Why was I doing this? What was wrong with me? Could it really be the stress? Captain Hayek didn’t say anything, or call me out. But somehow, I think she was well aware of what I had done.

I radioed back to Breaker 11, letting him know the shot was a failure, and ordered him to turn back around in order to reach 32,000 feet again. He affirmed and proceeded, but before I could relay the targeting information to the pilot like before, Captain Hayek spoke up. “I think Specialist Alvarez should take this Sergeant. Give her your headset.”

“I...“ I didn’t know what to say.

The officer narrowed her eyes. “I said... Specialist Alvarez should take this one. Sergeant. I don’t want anyone interfering with our little game.” She said it softly but forcefully as though I were her errant child. I didn’t say anything back, and handed Alvarez my headset.

The Specialist took the reins, guiding the flight lead as I had done before. “Breaker 11 that should be it. You’re cleared to fire as soon as you hit angels 32.“

And as before, the pilot called in his shot as he reached the requested height. “BREAKER 11, FOX 5!” We could hear through the speakers in our control room. I checked the time again. It was 1929 hrs. Good. I thought to myself, though I still couldn’t figure out why. The missile detached its first stage at the correct altitude this time. As it was designed to do, the second stage ignited and boosted the weapon into the necessary velocity for the rotors to take over. The tip jets guided the Killer Umbrella towards our anomalous hostage taker. We watched on the big screen as it tracked the kill vehicle’s jaunt to the object’s position near New America. I fixated my eyes on the feed we were still receiving from the surveillance satellite that had it in view. Just what was it? I looked back at the time on my desktop. 1935 hrs. I felt relieved somehow. But again, I didn’t know why exactly. Just as I took a sigh of relief, Alvarez spoke up.

“The rod! It got rid of it!“ She screamed.

Indeed, the monster loosened whatever invisible grip it had on the piece of tungsten and it floated away back towards New America. It wasn’t threatening us any more, thank God. But we were still threatening it. “We’re not giving up this kill. That thing tried to fire at us. Continue with the trajectory Specialist.” The commander ordered.

“Yes Sir.” Alvarez responded. “Second stage kill vehicle is within range, icing tip jets. I’m going to go for a direct strike with this one. 3...2...1... Out. Tip jets deactivated. We’re still on the money, one more minute to kill.” Alvarez had obviously paid attention this morning in Counterspace Academics. I was proud of her, as was everyone else in the room. Captain Hayek beamed at her, while giving me the cold shoulder. A cold shoulder I suppose I deserved. But then everyone’s joy at Alvarez’s accomplishment quickly dissipated with what we saw happen on screen. The object... was back behind one of the hollowed out asteroids of New America. It just suddenly wasn’t where it was. The remaining Shenlong however, not so much. The missile was less than 15 seconds out now.

The commander interjected “Fire the tip jets! Reorient! Move it out of the fucking way!”

Alvarez panicked, cracking her voice “I-I can’t Sir! It’s not accepting the signal! I can’t move it! It’s going to hit!” She was beginning to tear up.

The missile impacted the underside of the Shenlong with its rotors, veering off from it and being forced by its kinetic energy into the side of one of New America‘s asteroid habitats - shattering the weapon to pieces and obliterating several facilities constructed along the front end of the settlement. Everyone stood up out of our chairs, a few wincing and others letting out desperate screams as the impact happened before their very eyes. It was over. We had failed. Whatever that thing was, had bested us. I tried to console Alvarez, but she didn’t trust me anymore and rejected any effort I made to let her know it wasn’t her fault. I looked over at Captain Hayek. She just stared at me, not saying anything, and walked away. The NCOIC grabbed me by the shoulder as I sat back down and informed me that my actions from today would likely be investigated by a third party and that I should probably start getting in contact with JAG. Not only had I sacrificed the trust my apprentice had in me, but it seems as though I sacrificed my entire career for this thing. How am I going to be able to take care of Jerry now? I thought to myself. That’s when I remembered that I had left him in the truck outside.

I got outside to check on him. It was just after dusk now. He was gone. With his broken skateboard, and my wallet. “Jerry, I’m sorry.“ I said to myself out loud, and hung my head over the open window on the passenger side. “I’m so sorry.” I heard some foot steps from behind and turned around. It was Captain Hayek and Color Sergeant Hayek-Song, exiting the building and walking towards their car. As I watched them pull out of their parking space, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. I turned and saw three men in plain clothes, one of them sporting an Air Force Office of Special Investigations badge.

“Hi there Sergeant. I’m Agent Williamson. These two men are with the National Scientific Intelligence Administration. They have a few questions about the day’s events. As do I.” The Agent explained.

Before I could respond, the one with balding grey hair and wearing a white dress shirt pointed at Captain Hayek’s car as it turned down the street and drove away. He said, “And if you could, I’d like to know exactly everything you saw those two do the entire time they were here. Especially those two.”

I'm a member of the President's new space force, here's what I've seen so far

[photos-mdx]

U.S. Vought ASM-135 ASAT missile launch on Sep. 13, 1985, which destroyed P78-1.

[tomsdad63-blog]

It fired an ASM-135 ASAT

The F-15 fighter aircraft was once used to destroy an orbiting satellite. While testing a missile designed to shoot down spy satellites, the plane flew to 38,000 feet, fired, and destroyed the test target: a retired solar observatory satellite.

[siva3155]

300+ TOP MOST SATELLITE Communication Viva Questions and Answers

SATELLITE Communication Viva Questions :-

1 What are the Types of Satellite? Types of Satellite are as under: Anti-Satellite weapons/”Killer Satellites” Astronomical satellites Bio-satellites Communications satellites Miniaturized satellites Navigational satellites Reconnaissance satellites Earth observation satellites Space stations Tether satellites Weather satellites 2 How do I interpret visible satellite pictures? The pictures sent back to us from Weather Satellites are simply photographs taken from outer space. We get visible images during the daylight when the earth reflects sunlight back to outer space. Visible pictures show the amount of light reflected back to outer space. Thick water rich clouds, such as stratus (common along the North Coast during Summer months), show up as bright white on visible pictures. Snow pack over the Sierra Nevada during the Winter is another good reflector of sunlight. During the night, visible pictures are completely black as there is very little or no visible light to reflect! 3 How do I interpret infrared satellite pictures? Clouds and atmospheric gases such as water vapor radiate infrared energy to space. The amount of energy radiated by clouds and gasses relates directly with its temperature. This relationship, know as the Stephan-Boltzmann Law, allows us to “see” clouds at night. The atmosphere generally cools with height. A cloud that radiates low energy is higher in the troposphere than a cloud that radiates higher energy. On a standard linear enhancement curve, bright white represent cold ice-crystal clouds, while clouds colored with light shades of gray are warm water filled clouds in the mid and lower troposphere. There are a number of enhancement curves that color pictures of clouds based on temperature. These curves accentuate temperature ranges that allow us to discern high clouds from mid and low clouds. At the bottom of every infrared image there is a key telling you the temperature range for that color. For example, on the infrared pictures provided on this web site, red represents cloud tops with a temperature of -40C which in a standard atmosphere is about 40,000 ft. 4 How do I interpret water vapor imagery? Water vapor in the mid and upper troposphere absorbs infrared energy at discrete wavelengths. Using this information, water vapor can act like a tracer of atmospheric circulation in the mid and upper troposphere. Dark regions on water vapor pictures are generally areas where the air is sinking and drying. Light colored regions are areas of rising motion and moisture. Water vapor images are useful in locating jet streams and short-wave troughs and ridges in the mid and upper troposphere, but are lousy when trying to see clouds near the ground such as stratus. 5 Where can I find the time on satellite pictures? What time zone is this? The date and time stamps are located at the top or bottom of every image, along with other information. For example, G-10 IMG 01 3 Jun 00 TIME=00:30UTC RES=4km NWS/WR=SSD, is a typical date-time stamp which appears on satellite images. The date and time, colored blue in the above example, is in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). UTC is also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zulu Time (Z). Along the West Coast, we are about 8 hours behind the UTC during Pacific Standard Time (PST). During Daylight Saving Time (PDT), from mid April through mid October, we are about7 hours behind the UTC. In the example above, it’s June 3rd 2000, 30 minutes past midnight in Greenwich England. In order to get local time, you subtract7 hours to get June 2nd 2000, 5:30PM PDT. The next calendar day has already started in Greenwich England! 6 What is Anti-satellite weapon? Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic military purposes. Currently, only the United States, the former USSR (now Russia) and the People’s Republic of China are known to have developed these weapons. On September 13, 1985, the United States destroyed US satellite P78-1 using an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile and malfunctioning US spy satellite USA-193 using a RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 on February 21, 2008. On January 11, 2007, China destroyed an old Chinese orbiting weather satellite. 7. What is Space observatory? A space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects. This category is distinct from other observatories located in space that are pointed toward the earth for the purpose of reconnaissance and other types of information gathering. 8. What is Bio satellite? A bio satellite is a satellite designed to carry life in space. NASA launched three satellites specifically named Bio satellite (1, 2 & 3) between 1966 and 1969. Biosatellites include: Bion series of satellites the Mars Gravity Biosatellite. Orbiting Frog Otolith 9. What is Communications satellite? A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to COMSAT) is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications. Modern communications satellites use a variety of orbits including geostationary orbits, Molniya orbits, other elliptical orbits and low (polar and non-polar) Earth orbits. 10. What is Miniaturized satellite? Miniaturized satellites or small satellites are artificial satellites of unusually low weights and small sizes, usually under 500 kg (1100 lb). While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. 11. What is Global navigation satellite system? Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems (“sat nav”) that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. GNSS allows small electronic receivers to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) to within a few metres using time signals transmitted along a line-of-sight by radio from satellites. Receivers calculate the precise time as well as position, which can be used as a reference for scientific experiments. 12. What is Spy satellite? A spy satellite officially referred to as a reconnaissance satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. These are essentially space telescopes that are pointed toward the Earth instead of toward the stars. The first generation type took photographs, then ejected canisters of photographic film, which would descend to earth. 13. What is Earth observation satellite? Earth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed to observe Earth from orbit, similar to reconnaissance satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. Geostationary satellites hover over the same spot, providing continuous monitoring to a portion of the Earth’s surface. Polar orbiting satellites provide global coverage, but only twice per day at any given spot. 14. What is Space station? A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live and work in outer space for a period of time. To date, only low earth orbital (LEO) stations have been implemented, otherwise known as orbital stations. A space station is distinguished from other manned spacecraft by its lack of major propulsion or landing facilities—instead, other vehicles are used as transport to and from the station. Current and recent-history space stations are designed for medium-term living in orbit, for periods of weeks, months, or even years. The only space station currently in use is the International Space Station. Previous stations include the Almaz and Salyut series, Skylab and Mir. 15. What is Tether satellite? Tether satellite is a satellite connected to another by a thin cable called a tether. The space tether idea had its origin in the late 1800s. The idea became more popular in the 1960s, and subsequently NASA examined the feasibility of the idea and gave direction to the study of tethered systems, especially tethered satellites. 16. Explain Weather satellite? Weather Satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while moving at the speed of the Earths rotation. These meteorological satellites, however, see more than clouds and cloud systems. City lights, fires, effects of pollution, auroras, sand and dust storms, snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents, energy flows, etc., are other types of environmental information collected using weather satellites. Read the full article

[tinaslanguage]

An F-15 launching the ASM-135 ASAT, which shoot down a satellite orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 500km with a speed of 7km/s

[reseau-actu]

Pentagone: la Chine et la Russie bientôt capables de détruire les satellites des Etats-Unis d’Amérique

Partager la publication "Pentagone: la Chine et la Russie bientôt capables de détruire les satellites des Etats-Unis d’Amérique"

Le rapport de renseignement J-2 met en garde contre de nouveaux dangers pour les satellites en orbite terrestre basse

La Chine et la Russie développent des missiles anti-satellites et d’autres armes et seront bientôt capables d’endommager ou de détruire tous les satellites des Etats-Unis d’Amérique en orbite terrestre basse, selon l’état-major interarmées du Pentagone.

La direction des renseignements de l’état-major interarmées, connue sous le nom de J-2, a publié un avertissement dans un récent rapport sur la menace croissante des armes antisatellites (ASAT) de ces États, selon des responsables familiers avec l’évaluation.

Le rapport conclut que « la Chine et la Russie seront capables de perturber gravement ou de détruire les satellites des USA en orbite terrestre basse » dans les prochaines années, ont indiqué les responsables.

La capacité d’attaque des satellites en orbite terrestre basse pourrait être en place d’ici 2020, ont indiqué les responsables.

Un porte-parole de l’état-major interarmées a refusé de commenter, invoquant une politique de non-discussion des rapports internes.

Le rapport J-2 fait écho à un avertissement similaire, mais moins spécifique, du directeur du renseignement national, Dan Coats, en mai.

« Nous estimons que la Russie et la Chine perçoivent la nécessité de compenser tout avantage militaire des USA provenant des systèmes spatiaux militaires, civils ou commerciaux et considèrent de plus en plus les attaques contre les systèmes satellitaires comme faisant partie de leur future doctrine de guerre ». « Les deux pays continueront à utiliser toute une gamme d’armes antisatellites pour réduire l’efficacité militaire des États-Unis d’Amérique ».

Coats a ajouté que les deux pays poursuivent des opérations d’information à la recherche d’accords internationaux qui limiteraient les défenses des Etats-Unis d’Amérique dans l’espace contre de telles armes.

Les armes spatiales de la Russie comprennent une «série de capacités variées pour affecter les satellites dans tous les régimes orbitaux», a déclaré Coats au Congrès, y compris un laser aéroporté destiné aux satellites des USA.

« Dix ans après que la Chine a intercepté l’un de ses propres satellites en orbite terrestre basse, ses missiles ASAT lancés au sol pourraient être proches du service opérationnel au sein de l’APL », a déclaré M. Coats.

La Chine et la Russie sont également en train de développer des satellites d’enlèvement des débris qui, selon Coats, pourraient être utilisés pour endommager les satellites.

L’expert spatial Michael J. Listner a déclaré que la menace posée par les armes antisatellites n’est pas nouvelle. Les États-Unis d’Amérique et l’Union soviétique ont tous deux mis au point des systèmes pour dégrader les systèmes spatiaux pendant la guerre froide.

« Le programme ASAT des États-Unis d’Amérique, le programme 437, a pris la forme du missile ASM-135, ou de la « boîte de tomates volante », et était destiné par l’administration Reagan à dissuader le système co-orbitale soviétique », a déclaré Listner, fondateur de Space Law & Policy Solutions, une société de conseil.

« Lorsque le Congrès a supprimé le développement de l’ASM-135, il n’y avait pas de programme de suivi pour fournir l’effet dissuasif souhaité », a déclaré Listner.

« Que la Russie n’a pas complètement abandonné son programme et que la Chine poursuit sa propre voie, laisse aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique le problème de savoir comment dissuader la menace en dehors de l’espoir de résilience. »

La résilience est un terme utilisé par le Pentagone pour protéger, renforcer ou remplacer les satellites dans un conflit futur.

Les satellites en orbite terrestre basse fonctionnent entre 100 miles et 1 242 miles au-dessus de la terre et sont utilisés pour la reconnaissance et l’observation de la terre et de l’océan. Ces satellites en orbite basse fournissent des données militaires clés utilisées dans la préparation des champs de bataille à travers le monde pour déployer des forces dans un conflit ou une crise.

En outre, les satellites de surveillance météorologique et de communication, notamment Iridium, Globalstar et Orbcomm, tournent en orbite terrestre basse.

Un certain nombre de satellites d’intelligence critique et de communications militaires opèrent également sur des orbites très elliptiques qui, pendant leur orbite, voyagent dans un périgée extrêmement bas près de la terre où ils seront bientôt vulnérables aux attaques chinoises ou russes.

Tous ces satellites en orbite terrestre basse sont maintenant très vulnérables aux armes et aux capacités antisatellites chinoises ou russes.

Ces capacités vont de plusieurs types de missiles spatiaux lancés au sol, à des lasers et des brouilleurs électroniques, en passant par de petits satellites de manœuvre capables de manœuvrer, de saisir et d’écraser des satellites en orbite.

Selon un rapport de l’Institut national de politique publique, en 2016, il y avait 780 satellites en orbite terrestre basse exploités par 43 pays. Au total, 37 satellites en orbite hautement elliptique seront bientôt vulnérables aux ASAT chinois ou russes.

« Les systèmes spatiaux des USA sont parmi les actifs les plus fragiles et les plus vulnérables exploités par l’armée des Etats-Unis d’Amérique », indique le rapport de l’ancien expert des missiles du Pentagone, Steve Lambakis.

« Cette infrastructure de communications, de collecte, de traitement et de distribution de données vulnérables vaut des milliards de dollars et est essentielle à presque toutes les activités des États-Unis d’Amérique et, de plus en plus, des forces armées des alliés des USA ».

La Chine a déployé deux systèmes de missiles ASAT route-mobiles et développe deux systèmes de missiles antisatellite lancés au sol plus avancés.

« Avec cette gamme de capacités ASAT à ascension directe, la Chine pourrait utiliser des technologies « hit-to-kill » pour cibler et détruire les satellites de surveillance en orbite terrestre basse, les satellites GPS en orbite terrestre moyenne et les satellites d’alerte avancée en orbite géosynchrone. » A déclaré Lambakis. « L’utilisation d’une seule ogive nucléaire dans un rôle ASAT a le potentiel de décimer les satellites de basse altitude. »

Pékin a également testé des satellites capables de manœuvrer près des satellites dans l’espace, une capacité qui peut être utilisée pour les attaquer.

Des cyberattaques contre des stations de contrôle de satellites sont également en cours de développement, ainsi que des armes radiofréquences et des armes à faisceau d’énergie dirigées.

Les forces anti-satellites de la Russie se sont rapidement développées ces dernières années, avec des investissements estimés à 5 milliards de dollars par an, après l’expiration du programme après l’effondrement de l’Union soviétique en 1991.

L’armement spatial de Moscou comprend le développement d’un nouveau missile ASAT de lancement au sol appelé Nudol qui a été testé pour la troisième fois en décembre 2016. D’autres armes comprennent des lasers et des brouilleurs qui peuvent aveugler ou perturber l’électronique satellitaire. La Russie possède également des cyber-armes capables de perturber les systèmes de contrôle par satellite sur le terrain.

Les nouveaux missiles sol-air de la Russie, notamment les S-300, S-400 et S-500, sont également capables de frapper des cibles en orbite terrestre basse, le S-500 devant être déployé cette année.

Pour la manœuvre des satellites tueurs, la Russie en 2014 a lancé quatre satellites, dont un qui a été observé entrain de manœuvrer. Le Pentagone soupçonne que le satellite sera utilisé pour la guerre anti-satellite. Deux autres satellites restants ont été détectés manœuvrant après être resté des mois en orbite stationnaire.

Le programme antisatellite russe devrait également inclure un missile intercepteur lancé à partir d’un avion MiG-31, similaire à l’ancien ASM-135 des États-Unis d’Amérique.

Moscou a également développé des armes à impulsions électromagnétiques à haute altitude qui pourraient être utilisées pour perturber l’électronique de tous les satellites non durcis contre les attaques de l’EMP.

Le Conseil des sciences de défense du Pentagone a également mis en garde contre la vulnérabilité stratégique des satellites des USA dans un rapport en mars dernier.

Le rapport du conseil d’administration a déclaré que les communications militaires par satellite utilisées pour les opérations mondiales, en particulier, « seront contestées par une myriade d’effets allant de réversible à destructif ».

« Les menaces électroniques estimées et projetées contre la communication par satellite (satcom) se sont rapidement intensifiées au cours des dernières années et continueront à augmenter dans un avenir prévisible », a déclaré le rapport, rendu public en mars.

« Les avancées et la prolifération dans la guerre électronique avancée, les capacités cinétiques, spatiales et cybernétiques menacent notre capacité à maintenir la supériorité de l’information », a déclaré le rapport, notant « dans des situations de stress sévères, le brouillage peut rendre inopérant tous les satellites commerciaux et la plupart des Satcom de défense ».

« Cette réalité devrait être considérée comme une crise à traiter immédiatement », a averti le conseil d’administration.

Bill Gertz

Traduction : Jean de Dieu MOSSINGUE

source:https://mirastnews.net/2018/01/31/pentagone-la-chine-et-la-russie-bientot-capables-de-detruire-les-satellites-des-etats-unis-damerique/

Partager la publication "Pentagone: la Chine et la Russie bientôt capables de détruire les satellites des Etats-Unis d’Amérique"

Article complet: https://reseauinternational.net/pentagone-la-chine-et-la-russie-bientot-capables-de-detruire-les-satellites-des-etats-unis-damerique/