/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15396521
the mentioned article
https://archive.is/20230426102619/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/25/space-warfare-leaked-documents/

> Speaking last week at the Space Symposium conference in Colorado Springs, Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman, the chief of space operations, said the Pentagon is “seeing an incredibly sophisticated array of threats” that includes jamming of communications and GPS satellites, spacecraft that can grapple other satellites, lasers that can dazzle them, cyberattacks and even “nesting dolls,” or satellites that release others that spread out and track adversaries’ spacecraft.

> Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said during the conference that China “has doubled the number of their satellites just since the Space Force was established.” It now has more than 700 in operation with about 250 used for ISR, or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

> Both China and Russia have the ability to destroy satellites in orbit with missiles. China did so in 2007, while in 2021, Russia destroyed a dead satellite with a missile, creating a massive field of debris and drawing condemnation from the United States and international community. The Post previously reported that leaked documents showed Russia has also experimented with its Tobol electronic warfare system in an attempt to disrupt SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system, which has kept Ukrainians connected throughout the conflict with Russia.

> As part of a military strike on Taiwan, China would probably jam communications and intelligence satellites that can see through clouds, “degrade or destroy space ground networks” and “destroy ballistic missile early warning satellites,” the document says.

> “Russian companies attempted to create space-rated components for select satellites,” the document asserts. “But the low quality of the components led to on-orbit malfunctions.” It did not identify specific failings.
lmao