In outer space where satellites orbit, monitoring and photographing our planet, guiding missiles and gathering intelligence, soon will emerge the destruction of war…
By Egon E. Mosum
Man is an animal, and like many animals is territorial.
Unlike other animals, the territorial ambitions of man are without limit. First it was land, and there was war between tribes, and later, countries.
Next it was the sea, and there were battles great and small between sea going vessels.
Then it was the air, and great fighter plane dogfights and bombers and later drone swarms.
If we can visit there, we can find a way to kill there, and/or from there.
Now, there is outer space, and we are preparing for the battles that will take place in that final frontier.
The first targets in war are the triple C infrastructures: communication, control, and command.
In outer space where satellites orbit monitoring and photographing our planet, guiding missiles and gathering intelligence, the destruction of war will first visit upon them.
‘Anti-satellite weapons have existed almost as long as satellites have. They are used to destroy or incapacitate satellites, either through physical destruction (crashing into a satellite with a missile or another satellite) or through non-kinetic attacks, such as by electromagnetic jamming, lasers, and cyberattacks.’[1]
The anti-satellite weapons are accelerating in capability and production. ‘Space is an increasingly militarized domain with the potential to be a source and place of armed conflict. In recent years, tests of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons capable of neutralizing civilian and military satellites have fuelled fears of warfare in that domain.’[2]
The Russians, who in the last three years have demonstrated an active expansionist policy are not just focused on the Ukraine, they are looking towards the stars, with weapons of satellite destruction.
Recent intelligence reports state ‘that the Russian ASAT system under development involves a nuclear explosive device that would produce not only a massive nuclear-driven blast wave and a surge of radiation, but also a powerful electromagnetic pulse that could destroy, blind, or disable other satellites in orbit over a wide zone.’[3]
But it isn’t only the Russians, our other major enemy China is cooking up some nasty anti-satellite weaponry in their war wok, in fact it has been reported that ‘China is building up an “arsenal” of ASAT capabilities.‘[4]
While kinetic weapons, those that use projectiles or the equivalent to physically destroy satellites and leave destructive debris which threatens other satellites have long been in production, the ASAT development future is ‘leading towards ground-based, non-destructive methods that use electronic systems to jam or disable satellites.[5]
For fans of Star Wars and other space battle movies, anti-satellite laser weaponry has been developed, using a destructive focused beam to blind the optical sensors of an enemy’s satellites. Of course, the Russians are hard at work developing such anti-satellite technologies.
‘There is strong evidence that a space surveillance complex in Russia’s northern Caucasus is being outfitted with a new laser system called Kalina that will target optical systems of foreign imaging satellites flying over Russian territory.’
The program started fourteen years ago.
Another anti-satellite weapon system the Russians have is ‘a truck-mounted laser system that is co-deployed with mobile ICBM units and intended to prevent foreign reconnaissance satellites from following their movements.’[6]
Back to our Chinese rivals, ‘The People’s Liberation Army is developing missiles and ground-based lasers to hit satellites from the ground—systems that could be deployed before the end of the decade.’
It is expected that by the mid to late years of the current decade, China is expected to ‘deploy systems high enough in power that they can physically damage satellite structures.’[7]
While kinetic anti-satellite weapons can be effective in the space battlefield, the other edge of the sword is that the debris from a destroyed targeted satellite can threaten the function and existence of other satellites from non-target countries that are subject to the debris field.
Thus, the concept of collateral damage is no longer an earth bound one.
It should come as no surprise that the three major candidates for world extinction efforts, the United States, Russia, and China are doing their best to bring war off planet. But it may surprise the reader to know that India is a player in real world ‘star wars’.
Mission Shakti was the name given to the March 2019 launch of an anti-satellite missile from the same country that gave us Ghandi and satyagraha, peaceful non-resistance. In less than three minutes from launch time, a low-level orbit satellite was destroyed.
But that was six years ago, now, ‘India is reportedly working on directed energy ASAT weapons, co-orbital ASAT weapons, lasers and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) based ASAT weapons.’[8]
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
When countries develop weapons, sooner or later, they will put them to bad use. Even the atomic bomb was used twice — by us.
We’ve seen in the Ukraine the rapid development of drone technology that is making armored columns and massed infantry a thing of the past. We’ve seen the tenth-rate tin pot dictatorship of North Korea suddenly get down from the cheap seats as they develop their ballistic missile program.
War and the pursuit of ever new, ever more powerful weaponry are stimuli to technological development when it comes to the two main functions of the military — to kill people and break things.
Satellites are on the target list of things to be broken; space will be the next theater of operations.
If we can get there, we can — and will — engage in destructive activities there. Sooner or later, space will be another battlefield for mankind to do his worst to his fellow man and the space-based orbiters so much depends on in today’s world.
Remember, it isn’t only the military that depends on satellites. We do, every day, whether we’re getting directions to the Dairy Queen or watching our wars live on our televisions.
The destruction of satellites, even in weapons testing, can create dangerous, destructive debris that can not only negatively impact on the military, but on we, the people.
Every frontier we have conquered, or at least trespassed upon, has seen us bring along a bag full of bullets, bombs and ballistic missiles.
Space is unquestionably next, and yet we are talking of eventually colonizing the planets. (At least Mars, our target colony planet, is named after the Roman God of War).
Where there is a quest to conquer territory, there will be terror, where there is a development in technology, it will often be used to make war before the peaceful uses are contemplated.
It is not a question of if there will be war in space — a war of the satellites at least — it is a question of when.
We can make all the treaties regarding the peaceful use of space we want, but they can be torn up into debris just as a satellite targeted by a kinetic weapon.
One may ask, “when will we ever learn?’
The answer to that question might well be found in the stars.
[1] RUSSIAN ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPONS Daniels & Massa 2/24/2024 https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/russian-nuclear-anti-satellite-weapons-would-require-a-firm-us-response-not-hysteria/
[2] ANTI-SATELLITE WEAONS AND SELF DEFENSE O’Meara 5/24 https://ccdcoe.org/uploads/2024/05/CyCon_2024_OMeara-1.pdf
[3] US WARNS OF NEW RUSSIAN ASAT PROGRAM Kimball, 3/24 ARMS CONTROL ASSOCIATION https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2024-03/news/us-warns-new-russian-asat-program
[4] GLOBAL STATUS OF ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPONRY AND TESTING Roman, 1/30/24 ALLIANCE FOR CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT https://ace-usa.org/blog/research/research-foreignpolicy/global-status-of-anti-satellite-asat-weaponry-and-testing/
[5] IBID.
[6] Russian ground-based laser to dazzle imaging satellites Hendrickx, 7/5/22 The Space Review https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4416/1
[7] HOW CHINA IS EXPANDING ITS ANTI-SATELLITE ARSENAL Decker, 4/3/25 DEFENSE ONE https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/04/how-china-expanding-its-anti-satellite-arsenal/404283/
[8] MISSION SHAKTI, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Shakti