A company affiliated with the Russian space agency Roscosmos is reportedly moving to develop a powerful new laser capable of evaporating targets in orbit for the benefit of all mankind.
10.06.2018 - High-Tech Firepower: Russia Develops New Space Laser Cannon
High-Tech Firepower: Russia Develops New Space Laser Cannon
Researchers at the Scientific and Industrial Corporation ‘Precision Instrument Systems’ (NPK SPP), a subsidiary of Roscosmos, are developing
a new technology which would allow for the vaporizing of potentially harmful space debris via a focused laser beam, according to a report submitted to the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The proposal drafted by the scientists involves creating “an optic detection system which includes a solid-state laser and a transmit/receive adaptive optical system.”
The company confirmed the existence of this document, but declined to elaborate any further.
The scientists intend to use the massive soon-to-be-built telescope at the Altay Optical-Laser Center and convert it into a laser cannon. The device is expected to be powered by a solid-state generator, though the project team has yet to choose which model to use.
The cannon is expected to be able to gradually vaporize space debris objects through laser ablation.
Earlier it was reported that there are at least 13,000 space debris objects orbiting Earth, according to the Russian space control system.
In 2016 Roscosmos scientists determined that if the issue of space debris is not addressed, in one or two centuries it may clog Earth’s orbit and make space launches nearly impossible.
25.02.2018 - Russian Engineers Finish Work on Laser Capable of Shooting Down Enemy Satellites
Russian Engineers Finish Work on Laser Capable of Shooting Down Enemy Satellites
An informed source told Russian media that
the new laser weapon was developed with the help of know-how accumulated by the Beriev A-60 airborne laser laboratory.
"An evolution of this system has taken place; the completed work will allow us to make a step forward in the creation of such aircraft," the source
said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The source added that
a "fundamentally new" aircraft would be created to carry the laser weapon, and that it would not be based on the Il-76MD heavy strategic airlifter that was used to create the A-60. A decision on this issue will be made by the Ministry of Defense.
"At the current stage, work has been completed," the source said.
In 2016, Russian defense R&D concern NPO Almaz announced that they were working on an airborne military laser system designed to suppress enemy air and space-based reconnaissance platforms. The Voronezh-based Chemical Automatics Design Bureau and the Beriev Aircraft Company are also involved in the 'flying laser' program.
Recent work is a progression of experiments which began during the late Soviet period with the A-60 laser laboratory, based on a modified Il-76MD. Work on that project was temporarily frozen in 2011, before resuming in 2012. A deep modernization of the system was completed in 2016, with flight testing continuing since then.
In January, members of the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Washington Free Beacon that the US was developing its own, missile-based anti-satellite weapons, and that these could become combat-capable as soon as 2020.
Earlier this month, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats
published his 2018 'Worldwide Threat Assessment', in which he cited Russian and Chinese pursuit of antisatellite weapons "as a means to reduce US and allied military effectiveness."
According to Coats, in the event of conflict, the countries would use antisatellite systems "to offset any perceived US military advantage derived from military, civil, or commercial space systems."
31.01.2018 - Pentagon Fears Rapid Advancement of Chinese, Russia Anti-Satellite Weapons
Pentagon Fears Rapid Advancement of Chinese, Russian Anti-Satellite Weapons
Kessler Syndrome, here we come! The Pentagon has fretted that China and Russia are developing anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles that could shoot US low Earth orbit (LEO) objects out of the stars within the next two years.
The intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, designated J-2, told the Washington Free Beacon that these missiles are currently in development and will be combat-capable as early as 2020.
In May, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that Moscow and Beijing were "increasingly considering attacks against satellite systems as part of their future warfare doctrine."
"Both will continue to pursue a full range of ASAT weapons as a means to reduce US military effectiveness," Coats told Congress. Russia was seeking a "diverse suite of capabilities to affect satellites in all orbital regimes," such as an honest-to-god laser gun.
The Free Beacon estimated that Moscow spends $5 billion annually on ASAT weapons such as the Nudol ASAT ground-launched missile that was most recently tested in December 2016. Their S-300, S-400, and S-500 surface-to-air missiles also have the capability to strike LEO targets.
China's program is secretive, but thought to be formidable. In 2010, 2013, and 2014, Beijing conducted mid-course missile defense tests that the Pentagon characterized as a system that could also be easily modified to shoot down satellites.
China's military modernization program clearly includes an attempt to up its game in space. Weapons for space involve more than just ASAT systems, but these are the most overt signs of China's progress," said former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin to Cipher Brief earlier in January.
Speaking to news.com.au, John Blaxland, professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies and director of ANU's Southeast Asia Institute, said that such technology had been under development for quite some time.
"The US Department of Defense is undoubtedly concerned," Blaxland said. "That is because much of the precision and geolocation technology, on which much of US military technology depends, is heavily reliant on maintaining their network of satellites unhindered by the prospect of ASAT strikes from China or Russia."
In anticipation of the challenge, the Pentagon has begun development on counter-technologies such as satellite constellations: overlapping satellite networks that can retain their geolocating capabilities even if some of the satellites inside the network are lost.
Currently, no arms treaties exist regarding ASAT weapons. Such a treaty could undermine missile defense, as many missile defense systems also have latent ASAT capabilities. The RAND think tank also reported that the US has their own arsenal of ASAT weapons that they'd be unwilling to surrender, as they currently hold the edge in space warfare.
US leaders in the Trump administration have taken a hawkish tone in recent rhetoric regarding China and Russia. Earlier in January, US Defence Secretary James Mattis released a new defense strategy that said that countering China's rapidly expanding military strength and Russia's modernizing forces were the Pentagon's top national security priorities.
We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great-power competition — not terrorism — is now the primary focus of US national security," Mattis said in a January 19 speech at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. "This strategy is fit for our time, providing the American people [with] the military required to protect our way of life, stand with our allies and live up to our responsibility to pass intact to the next generation those freedoms we enjoy today."
During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump referred to China and Russia as "rivals" who "challenge our interests, our economy and our values."
"In confronting these dangers, we know that weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means of our defense," the president said.
21.06.2018 - Prime Strategic Interest’: France Poised to Invest in More Space Assets
‘Prime Strategic Interest’: France Poised to Invest in More Space Assets
The French Defense Minister has called for increased financing to support surveillance in outer space, just three days after US President Donald Trump ordered the creation of a “Space Force” as the sixth branch of the US military.
We must be able to invest more in space than we do today, so that we can monitor it and prevent it from becoming a theater for major confrontations," French Defense Minister Florence Parley said June 21.
A piece of draft legislation laying out France's military plan from 2019 to 2025 calls space an area of "prime strategic interest" and says that "in the face of increasing risks and threats, the continued strengthening of new space assets and the systems using them is needed," according to Reuters.
The French space program is the largest such program in Europe and one of the oldest space programs in the world.
On Monday, Trump announced that "We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the Space Force," adding that the branches would be "separate but equal."
"It's going to be something. So important."
However, only the US Congress can directly create a new military service. In a letter addressing the president's idea, US Air Force leaders including Secretary Heather Wilson, Chief of Staff David Goldfein and Chief Master Sergeant Kaleth O Wright said that "we should not expect any immediate moves or changes."
13.01.2018 - US Spy Satellite Heads for Orbit to Replenish Fleet
US Spy Satellite Heads for Orbit to Replenish Fleet
The launch of a US spy satellite looked good atop the fiery plume of a Delta IV rocket launched from the state of California’s Vandenberg Air Force base, with officials hoping to avoid a repeat of Sunday’s failed attempt to place another spy satellite in space, according to webcast by United Launch Alliance rocket company.
Friday’s launch took place five days after the US reportedly lost another secret
satellite – named Zuma — on a Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by rival rocket company Space X, according to a ULA webcast.
"ULA and the NRO [National Reconnaissance Office] will be hoping for a better outcome as reports emerged that Zuma was likely met with an untimely demise shortly after arriving in orbit," ULA stated in a press release. The release called Friday's launch an attempt "to replenish the US spy satellite fleet."
Live coverage of the highly classified flight ended when the satellite payload separated from the rocket, less than four minutes after liftoff.
Recently, SpaceX announced a
successful launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a secret satellite of the US government code-named Zuma. While the company has reported a successful landing of the first stage of the missile, the satellite itself is believed to have been lost after it failed to reach low-Earth orbit, according to media reports.
Although the information about the orbital parameters as well as about the satellite's purpose was classified, the Wall Street Journal cited the US industry and government officials had reported that the satellite did not separate from the
rocket as planned and fell back.
