Anti-satellite weapons: History, types and purpose
*Anti-Satellite Weapons: Threatening the Future of Space Activities*
Powerful anti-satellite weapons have been developed by rival nations to knock out each other's satellites as the battle for space heats up.
What Are Anti-Satellite Weapons?
At any given moment, there are thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth for commercial, civil, strategic, and military reasons.
Due to the importance of certain satellites for national security, countries have developed anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons that can be used to incapacitate or destroy satellites in orbit.
While some ASAT weapons use non-destructive means like cyberattacks or lasers to impair satellites, the destructive types often rely on high-speed physical collision to shatter satellites, creating negative repercussions for the space environment.
The above infographic from Secure World Foundation explains how destructive ASAT testing is hindering outer space and adding to the increasing space debris in Earth’s orbits.
Orbiting high above our heads is a technology that has changed every aspect of our lives.
From the GPS on your phone to the sport you watch on TV, satellites have become a cornerstone of modern life.
But as well as civilian use, they're also the lynchpin to secure military and government communications. So it stands to reason then that any hostile state wishing to cause disruption would target these satellites. Known as anti-satellite (ASATs) weapons, they have been around almost as long as satellites themselves.
HISTORY OF ASATS
Historically, just four countries—Russia (formerly the USSR), China, the U.S., and India—have successfully used destructive ASAT weapons of two types:
Co-orbital: Weapons that are placed into orbit and maneuver close to a target and attack it by various means, including direct collision, fragmentation, or using robotic arms.
Direct-ascent: Missiles that are launched from the Earth’s surface or from air to destroy a satellite target in orbit.
Since 1968, these four countries have successfully conducted 15 destructive ASAT tests, creating thousands of pieces of tracked debris that spread across vast distances.
When the Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite Sputnik 1 in 1957, the US feared their cold war rivals would develop an orbital network of nuclear-armed satellites. It responded with its first ASAT, an air-launched ballistic missile called Bold Orion.
The Soviets responded with their own ASAT. These were known as co-orbitals which would essentially fly alongside satellites and blow themselves up, taking the satellite with it.
The tech has continued to evolve, with China entering the race in 2007 when it destroyed an old weather satellite with a ballistic missile. Continuing tests have led to a dangerous rise in space junk orbiting the Earth, and in April 2022 the US became the first county to announce it was banning the use of missiles against satellites, according to the White House website.
Between 1961 and 1982, the USSR launched a series of satellites for various missions, including the testing of its co-orbital ASAT weapons under the Istrebitel Sputnikov (meaning “destroyer of satellites”) program. As of 2022—40 to 50 years after these tests—some of their tracked debris is still orbiting the Earth.
China’s destruction of the FengYun 1C weather satellite in 2007 was by far the most-destructive ASAT test in terms of debris creation. The collision generated over 3,400 pieces of tracked debris, and was the first successful direct-ascent ASAT test since 1985.
In November 2021, Russia made the headlines for a destructive direct-ascent test responsible for around 1,400 new pieces of tracked debris, along with hundreds of thousands of smaller fragments. The consequences of the test prompted calls for a global ban on destructive ASAT testing.
It’s also important to note that debris fragments from these tests are not only orbiting the Earth but also spreading far from the altitude where these tests occurred. For example, some fragments from China’s 2007 test reached more than 3,000km beyond the Earth’s surface.
The Impact of Destructive Anti-Satellite Weapons
When destructive ASAT weapons collide with satellites, they can create thousands to millions of pieces of debris that can orbit the Earth for decades at extremely high speeds.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the destruction of a single 10-ton satellite can generate:
8 to 14 million debris pieces between 1mm and 1cm in size
250,000 to 750,000 debris pieces between 1cm and 10cm
5,000 to 15,000 debris pieces greater than 10cm
The debris from destructive ASAT testing adds to the 8,800 metric tons of space debris that’s already floating around in space. Since space debris can travel at speeds up to 29,000km/h (roughly 8km/s), even millimeter-sized fragments are massive threats to other objects in orbit.
In fact, the International Space Station (ISS) has conducted 29 debris avoidance maneuvers since 1999, which involve rerouting to avoid potential collisions with debris pieces.
TYPES OF ASATS
ASATs can be broadly divided into two types, those that use brute force and those that don't. Kinetic energy ASATs physically crash into satellites and can be virtually anything that can reach altitude, from ballistic missiles to drones and other satellites.
A different type of ASAT is the non-kinetic type. They use non-physical attacks such as cyber-attacks, jamming and even blind satellites with lasers. These attacks can all be carried out from the air, low orbit, or even ground installations.
This nightmare scenario was played out in the 2013 blockbuster movie "Gravity" and pretty much sums up the Kessler Syndrome.
The Kessler Syndrome is what happens when the amount of space debris in orbit reaches a point where it just creates more and more, which can cause havoc for any space program.
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It is named after former NASA scientist Donald Kessler, who described the basic idea in his 1978 paper "Collision Frequency of Artificial Satellites: The Creation of a Debris Belt". He and co-author Burton Cour-Palais said the likelihood of satellite collisions would increase as more and more spacecraft were launched.
Projects such as the European Space Agency's Clean Space initiative are trying to tackle the problem through things such as the robotic salvage of derelict satellites.
The Call to Ban Destructive Testing
The debris from deliberate satellite destruction is dangerous and uncontrollable, threatening other satellites and spacecraft. As more satellites and human spacecraft enter outer space, preventing further debris creation is critical to protecting the long-term sustainability of space activities.
Following Russia’s recent test, the U.S. was the first nation to commit not to conduct destructive ASAT tests, urging other nations to follow suit.
“These tests, to be sure, are reckless as they are irresponsible.”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris
>> Secure World Foundation promotes cooperative solutions for space sustainability and the peaceful uses of outer space.
A NEW PEACE?
Four countries — the USA, China, Russia and India — have destroyed their own satellites in ASAT tests. But just as the Soviets and USA once sat down to talk about nuclear disarmament, there is a growing movement toward getting rid of ASATs too.
The United States' plan to ban tests on the use of ballistic missiles against satellites was set into motion after the Russian government shot down one of its own satellites and created thousands of pieces of debris orbiting Earth. It left astronauts on the International Space Station needing to take shelter as the shrapnel field passed by.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
You can read more about anti-satellite weapons and the emerging space arms race by reading this article from Harvard International Review magazine. Alternatively, you can find out about Russia's anti-satellite test at the Arms Control Association website.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"NASA Administrator Statement on Russian ASAT Test". NASA Space Station (2021).
"FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris Advances National Security Norms in Space". White House (2022).
"What is cyberwarfare?". Live Science (2022).
"Earth's Space Debris Problem Is Getting Worse, And There's an Explosive Component". Science Alert (2020).
Kessler,D. Cour-Palais, B. "Collision frequency of artificial satellites: The creation of a debris belt". JGR Space Physics (1978).
"Clean Space". European Space Agency: Space Safety (2012).