Ted Cruz Vs. The Space Pirates

[Thumpalumpacus]

[Cheerful Charlie]

https://www.google.com/search?q=space+ca...20&bih=604

[GenesisNemesis]

Thread title is my new band name.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I would have named mine "Tralfamadorian Gondorians".

[Dānu]

My understanding was that a large part of the impetus for the so-called space force was to consolidate a number of programs which currently are scattered among the other branches of the military largely by default, resulting in compromised direction, funding, and operation. If that is all the space force is, then the characterizations which it has received in some parts, including possibly from Senator Cruz, are not particularly accurate and are misleading about the intents, purposes, and justification for a space force. While Cruz' use of language is somewhat laughable, he makes a very valid point in that the U.S. has space borne assets which are threatened by hostile powers and require protection. Whether the current military branches can adequately handle that job without consolidating the efforts under a unified space force is a legitimate question, but that the U.S. needs to protect its space based assets from hostile foreign powers is not. I don't offhand know if this "space force" is intended to go beyond reorganizing currently existing military branches, units, and departments, but that in itself is a perfectly legitimate policy goal.

(A quick example. A story earlier this year reported how Chinese space based assets were threatening the viability of many U.S. space based assets, I believe the reason being that the Chinese were not particularly concerned with coordinating their planned use of orbits with the United States. Two satellites in intersecting orbits definitely poses a legitimate, if possibly unintentional threat to those assets. If a consolidated branch of the military will do a better job of seeing that such concerns are addressed, then I'm all for it.)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Eddorians are bound to retaliate.

[Mathilda]

Maybe someone should ask him whether any space pirates exist or indeed if there has ever been an single instance of space of piracy.

Or for that matter how space piracy could even work in practice.

After all, if you're going to come up with a solution to a problem you first need to know what the problem is.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There was a lot of breaking and entering in "Gravity".

[Dānu]

Maybe someone should ask him whether any space pirates exist or indeed if there has ever been an single instance of space of piracy.

Or for that matter how space piracy could even work in practice.

After all, if you're going to come up with a solution to a problem you first need to know what the problem is.

A senior U.S. diplomat has accused Russia of deploying another small, specialized satellite into orbit that it could use as an anti-satellite weapon. This is at least the fourth such system the Kremlin has launched since 2013 and highlights a continued lack of internationally accepted ground rules for hostile activities in space, even as the United States seeks to increase its military capabilities above the Earth’s atmosphere.

Yleem Poblete, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, raised the concerns about the Russian “space apparatus inspector” at a meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland on Aug. 14, 2018. Russia publicly announced the launch of this satellite in June 2017, but insists that its only function is to inspect the country’s own space-based systems for damage or other possible issues and potentially service and repair them.

The Russian satellite’s “behavior on-orbit was inconsistent with anything seen before from on-orbit inspection or space situational awareness capabilities, including other Russian inspection satellite activities,” Poblete said at the gathering. “We are concerned with what appears to be very abnormal behavior by a declared ‘space apparatus inspector.’ We don’t know for certain what it is and there is no way to verify it.”

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Now it’s important to note that the concept of a small inspector satellite isn’t new and makes good sense. Sending manned missions to examine satellites and other space objects and potentially make repairs or modifications has historically been costly and complicated.

At the same time, fixing or making modifications to a satellite in space saves the trouble of building a replacement and paying to launch it into orbit. Famously, the United States sent astronauts to fix the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993 after NASA discovered a fault in the system’s main mirror.

Having a semi-autonomous, space-based repair crew of sorts on call could simplify the arrangement significantly. If nothing else, these robotic inspectors could assess the issue quickly so personnel on the ground could make an informed decision about how to proceed.

The problem is that any satellite that can maneuver itself very close to another one, and may have small arms or probes to physically interact with its target, is inherently capable of being a weapon. Any such repair system could easily smash sensitive optics and other components, or simply slam into the target, acting as a kinetic weapon. Their small size means that their terrestrial operators might be able to instruct them to try to hide near other objects, especially among the ever-expanding field of "space junk" floating around the earth, as well.

They might also be able to carry electronic warfare jammers or directed energy weapons that could blind optics or prevent a satellite from communicating information, including warnings about incoming missiles or vital intelligence data, to facilities down below. The “inspectors” could act as small intelligence agents, intercepting transmissions aimed at space-based communications systems. In that case, they might potentially send out spoofed signals with confusing messages or false navigational coordinates, as well.

Russia has since denounced Assistant Secretary of State Poblete’s comments as “unfounded, slanderous accusations based on suspicions.” However, statements from the country’s own Ministry of Defense regarding their newest inspector’s rendezvous with Kosmos-2519, another military satellite that itself has an unknown mission, strongly indicate that this satellite has a robust set of capabilities that could have a secondary military application.

Russia Has Four Potential "Killer Satellites" In Orbit, At Least That We Know About

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Brilliant Pebbles.