Chinese missile testing

On January 11, China launched an anti-satellite missile with the intention of destroying an aging Chinese weather satellite that was in low Earth orbit. This directly threatens America’s position as a superpower, its economy and communications, and especially its military supremacy. The Bush Administration should strongly oppose this type of testing, and the space budget and program should be revised and accelerated immediately.

This event comes at a time of tension between China and the U.S. in what the Chinese call an “arms race in space.” In addition to that, Defense News reports that the Chinese aimed high-powered, ground-based lasers at U.S. spy satellites, apparently to see if they could blind the satellite. This sort of anti-satellite weaponry testing does nothing but cause concern over Chinese ambitions.

Currently, the U.S. and Russia are the only two owners of this technology, making Chinese acquisition of this technology a major power shift. The last time such technology was tested was in the 1980s, with the United States shooting down one of its own orbiting satellites in 1985. Worries about the debris problem that arises once a satellite is destroyed caused the testing programs to be shut down. When a satellite is destroyed, it leaves a large cloud of debris, with as many as 300,000 pieces in that cloud, hundreds of which are large enough to cause problems. This debris can seriously damage other satellites in orbit and spaceships passing though the region, potentially hindering the Mars plan the Bush Administration has championed.

The U.S. currently maintains three optical reconnaissance satellites which travel predictable orbits. These satellites also have limited defenses against lasers, making them prime targets for anti-satellite attacks. Losing any one of these three satellites would deal a strong blow to US space and military capabilities. Because of this threat, the United States should implement the “Future Imagery Architecture” program as soon as possible. Accelerating this program, in addition to deploying the next generation of GPS, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne “will make further assaults and jamming efforts irrelevant.” In addition to that, the Bush Administration should not cower to China because they have the “ability” to help reign in Iran and North Korea.

If the Chinese truly have a peaceful and non-provocative aim in testing anti-satellite capabilities, they should be much more forthcoming with information regarding such tests, as opposed to confirming it ten days later. Blowing up satellites in space, regardless of which country they belong to, and not making these tests public, leads to rash judgments and overcautious concerns. The implications of this test should not be overlooked, and for the supremacy and future of America, the government should keep alert, and carefully watch these developments.