![]() ![]() are feeling jumpy when they recognize the others’ inspector satellites approaching or even chasing their own space assets. Shady Russian Satellite Breaks in Earth's Orbitįortunately, real kinetic space warfare has yet to happen.That could be a far more discrete and ambiguous means of affecting another state’s space assets, rather than the brutal approach of blowing up space objects with highly indiscrete anti-satellite missiles launched from the surface, scattering hundreds of hazardous fragments into orbit. In some cases, they carry equipment to repair or otherwise tweak objects in orbit using manipulator arms.īut this reasonable-seeming capability set also could make an inspector satellite a potentially effective tool for espionage, or worse, sabotage: able to creep close enough to a rival country’s satellite and practice some involuntary space surgery using a manipulator arm or, from a safer distance, a laser. Inspector satellites are designed with capability to maneuver close to other satellites to-that’s right-inspect their condition. Instead, many of the current concerns revolve around weaponization of the seemingly innocuous inspection satellite. ![]() Malevolent satellite inspectors?ĭespite there being little in the way of treaty restrictions on deploying non-nuclear weaponry into orbit, the major space powers have mostly observed a longstanding taboo against doing so. Which they, in turn, may cite in defense of their future spy satellites. Ironically, Moscow and Beijing will likely perceive, or at least decry, Silent Barker’s mysterious spying-on-the-spies capabilities as amounting to offensive intentions too. The director of the NRO told reporters at a roundtable that Silent Barker will have a capability to continuously track moving objects in geosynchronous orbit which the current GSSAP satellites implicitly lack.īut how exactly Silent Barker works, or even how many satellites it’s composed of, remains classified. Accordingly, part of the service’s deterrence strategy involves talking up Silent Barker’s existence so that Russia and China know their high-orbit space activities may be more closely monitored once constellation is deployed. an ability to respond rapidly to prevent tampering or damaging of its assets. Space Forces argues this new ‘watch dog’ capacity may deter future malevolent actions in space by removing the veil of deniability as well as giving the U.S. It Sure Looks Like Russia Launched a Spy Satellite.Thus the space-based Silent Barker satellites will allegedly bring “unprecedented coverage” of activity in geosynchronous orbit and also facilitate a more extensive and detailed catalogue of space objects there. The way Pentagon officials explain it, Silent Barker’s space-based sensors will reportedly fill visibility gaps in space where the Pentagon is frustrated it can’t tell what Russian or Chinese space assets are doing due to relying primarily on ground-based sensors that can lose coverage due to time of day and bad weather. The Government Accountability Office estimated the program will have a total cost just shy of $1 billion, of which $283 million had already been awarded to contractors by 2021, per budget documents. Silent Barker was first announced December 2017, and amounts to a next-generation supplement to six GSSAP inspection satellites (with more on the way) in near-geosynchronous orbit. satellite intelligence assets, though the data will be feed to the Space Force’s National Space Defense Center in Colorado Springs and the Combined Space Operations Center in Vandenberg, California. The Silent Barker constellation will be operated by the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for managing U.S. The Truth About the ‘Black Knight’ Satellite.
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