|
Don't Touch My Space Junk, Russians
Satellites play an increasingly important role in our communications infrastructure for both military and civilian applications. Near instant communication from far parts of the globe are only a part of the things made possible by satellites. Satellite imagery plays an important role in battlefield tactics and intelligence gathering. Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) allow civilians and military vehicles to find their way to their destinations. It is certain that one of the objectives of combatants in any future major war will be to neutralize enemy satellites.
Dangerous Space Junk
Large space debris, or space junk, consisting of non-operational or obsolete satellites and the like also pose a threat to our satellite communications infrastructure through inadvertent collision. As I've noted elsewhere , space junk is a serious and growing threat and something needs to be done about. However, Energia's plan has to be viewed with some suspicion.
Satellite Hunter-Killer?
The plan is to send up an unmanned vehicle to locate and catch up to these old disabled satellites as they orbit the Earth. Once it is near enough, the Energia vehicle with push the space junk out of orbit, causing its orbit to decay rapidly and sending it back into the Earth's atmosphere to burn up or fall harmlessly into the ocean. On its surface, this is a good thing, making near space safer for working satellites. This development effort, however, is no different than building an active satellite hunter-killer satellite.
600 Satellite Destruction Capacity
Energia's unmanned craft will be able to maneuver from one satellite to another. This one vehicle, says Energia in the Xinhua News piece, will be able to dispatch as many as 600 old satellites. Ask your nearest member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff what losing even a fraction of that number of carefully selected military and civilian satellites would do to our ability to wage war on the other side of the planet and to our domestic communications infrastructure.
Russia Investing $2 Billion in Space Charity Work?
There is no money in destroying or removing space junk. Energia is investing almost $2 billion in this project. While Russia has as much to lose as anyone from collisions between space junk and functional satellites, at present, the risk is relatively low and certainly doesn't justify the expense from a purely cost-benefit perspective, unless the technology is, in fact, a weapons-development project.
Energia: 'Space Interceptor' Also Planned
Energia has also announced plans to build a space interceptor that, they say will be designed to deflect dangerous meteors headed toward Earth. Such meteors could potentially be traveling in excess of 100,000 miles per hour . They would need to be intercepted at a distance great enough from the Earth that a small change in their approach angle would cause them to miss the Earth entirely. Pin point accuracy and incredible power would be required.
Space-based First Strike Capability
There is little, if any, difference between this interceptor and the first space-based fighter planes. Such a vehicle would find it child's play to pick out and destroy any satellite in orbit around the Earth. Whatever, the stated purpose of these projects, they are weapons, pure and simple. Furthermore, they will almost certainly be the weapons that fire the first, decisive shots in any major conflict once they are operational.
|
