{"id":76639,"date":"2022-01-28T15:47:38","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T21:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=76639"},"modified":"2022-01-28T15:48:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T21:48:00","slug":"76639","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=76639","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

BLUF:
\nAs Shijian-21\u2019s recent actions demonstrate, there is a pressing need for the United States to be able to defend its assets in distant orbit. It\u2019s likely we could see similar\u00a0shows of force\u00a0in the near term as Space Force responds to other nations\u2019 demonstrations of \u201ckiller\u201d satellite capabilities.<\/p>\n

A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit.<\/a><\/p>\n

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A Chinese satellite was observed grabbing another satellite and pulling it out of its normal geosynchronous orbit and into a \u201csuper-graveyard drift orbit.\u201d The maneuver raises questions about the potential applications of these types of satellites designed to maneuver close to other satellites for inspection or manipulation and adds to growing concerns about China’s space program overall.<\/p>\n

On January 22, China\u2019s Shijian-21 satellite, or SJ-21, disappeared from its regular position<\/a>\u00a0in orbit during daylight hours when observations were difficult to make with optical telescopes. SJ-21 was then observed executing a \u201clarge maneuver\u201d to bring it closely alongside another satellite, a dead\u00a0BeiDou Navigation System<\/a>\u00a0satellite. SJ-21 then pulled the dead satellite out of its normal\u00a0geosynchronous orbit<\/a>\u00a0and placed it a few hundred miles away in what is known as a\u00a0graveyard orbit<\/a>. These distant orbits are designated for defunct satellites at the end of their lives and are intended to reduce the risk of collision with operational assets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The unusual maneuver was observed by telescopes belonging to commercial space awareness firm Exoanalytic Solutions<\/a>. During a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) this week, Exoanalytic Solutions\u2019 Brien Flewelling said the SJ-21 satellite \u201cappears to be functioning as a space tug.\u201d Space Command did not respond to a request for comment,\u00a0Breaking Defense reports<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Space Force has been increasingly turning to commercial space companies to provide a variety of data and services to boost its situational awareness, and to that end,\u00a0Joint Task Force-Space Defense<\/a>\u00a0awarded Exoanalytic Solutions\u00a0a contract<\/a>\u00a0in 2021 to provide space domain data. \u201cComms, data relay, remote sensing, and even ISR and some other things \u2014 [these] capabilities are increasingly available in the commercial market,\u201d Space Force deputy Lt. Gen. David Thompson\u00a0said last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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SJ-21, or Shijian-21, was launched in October 2021<\/a>\u00a0atop a Long March-3B rocket. The satellite is officially designated as an On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing, or\u00a0OSAM satellite<\/a>, a broad class of satellites designed with capabilities to get close to and interact with other satellites. Such systems could enable a wide range of applications including extending the life of existing satellites, assembling satellites in orbit, or performing other maintenance and repairs. According to\u00a0Chinese state news outlets<\/a>, SJ-21 was designed to \u201ctest and verify space debris mitigation technologies.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SJ-21\u2019s recent maneuver raises questions and concerns about these types of satellites and their potential for military use. Todd Harrison, director of CSIS\u2019s Aerospace Project,\u00a0told Breaking Defense<\/a>\u00a0that SJ-21\u2019s actions present \u201cmore questions than answers,\u201d adding that while we can observe the satellite\u2019s actions, \u201cthe intent behind it and what China plans to do with this technology is a more subjective assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time SJ-21 has made headlines with its questionable behavior. In November 2021, just a month after its launch, an unknown object was seen\u00a0orbiting alongside SJ-21<\/a>. At the time, Space Force designated the unidentified object as a spent\u00a0apogee kick motor<\/a>, but it was also reported that it might have been an experimental payload designed to test SJ-21\u2019s ability to perform remote operations and manipulate other satellites.<\/p>\n

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The United States Air Force\u2019s China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) published a report<\/a>\u00a0on Shijian-21 last year shortly after its unknown companion appeared. The report notes that \u201cEven Chinese media, academics, and bloggers agree with Western analysts that\u00a0remote proximity operation<\/a>\u00a0capabilities and robotic arm technologies are dual-use,\u201d meaning they have potential military applications in addition to scientific or utility ones. The report mentions unverified claims that SJ-21 might have some form of net used to capture space debris, claims which have also appeared on social media.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Analyzing the potential applications of these dual-use satellites is difficult. As CASI\u00a0notes<\/a>, while SJ-21\u2019s previous behaviors demonstrate \u201ctechnology to potentially enable weapons or reconnaissance capabilities,\u201d they are also perfectly in line with China\u2019s peaceful economic and scientific goals in space, particularly related to debris removal.<\/p>\n

Still, if SJ-21 can grab a dead satellite and move it out of orbit, there is likely little stopping it from doing the same thing to an operational one the American military depends upon. It\u2019s important to note that the United States is also exploring\u00a0on-orbit servicing capabilities<\/a>\u00a0that will likely prompt similar concerns from America’s competitors. Northrop Grumman is\u00a0developing a satellite<\/a>\u00a0featuring a DARPA-made robotic arm for a planned launch in 2024 that is capable of \u201cdetailed inspections, relocations of client vehicles or simple repairs such as releasing a solar array that is stuck or an antenna that doesn\u2019t deploy properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NASA<\/div>\n
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Artwork for NASA’s OSAM-1, a robotic spacecraft equipped with the ability to grasp and relocate satellites.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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The fact that China has these capabilities in orbit now underscores concerns the Pentagon has been voicing in recent years about China\u2019s\u00a0rapidly advancing space capabilities<\/a>. James Dickinson, commander of United States Space Command,\u00a0told Congress last year<\/a>\u00a0that Chinese satellites like SJ-21 and others \u201ccould be used in a future system for grappling other satellites.\u201d As early as 2013, there have been reports of Chinese satellites using robotic arms to\u00a0grab other satellites<\/a>. A robotic arm launched aboard the Tianhe module of China\u2019s Tiangong space station has\u00a0displayed similar capabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Those concerns aren\u2019t unfounded. In another direct example of this potential threat, an American spy satellite was shadowed closely in 2020 by a\u00a0Russian \u201cspace apparatus inspector\u201d<\/a>\u00a0believed to have capabilities\u00a0similar to SJ-21<\/a>. Maneuvering one satellite close to another in orbit is a technologically complex proposition, and there is always the possibility of an\u00a0unintentional collision<\/a>\u00a0occurring during one of these operations. There are also concerns about adversary satellites with more\u00a0destructive capabilities<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0high-powered microwaves<\/a>\u00a0or the ability to\u00a0launch projectiles<\/a>. Any satellite that has the ability to maneuver in close proximity to another could potentially carry out a variety of attacks on it such as jamming its transmissions, blinding its sensors, spraying aerosols on its solar panels and optics, physically manipulating it, or moving it out of orbit as in the case of Shijian-21’s recent operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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DIA<\/div>\n
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An infographic from the Defense Intelligence Agency depicting a number of ways in which one satellite might attack another, including by acting as a kinetic kill vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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With all of these developments, it\u2019s no wonder Space Force recently expanded its Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program aimed at\u00a0keeping an eye on other satellites<\/a>\u00a0in the same orbit as SJ-21 where many of America\u2019s critical\u00a0early warning<\/a>\u00a0and spy satellites reside. Some Pentagon leadership have also argued that declassification of America\u2019s space-based capabilities could help\u00a0serve as a deterrent<\/a>\u00a0and boost support for Space Force.<\/p>\n

As Shijian-21\u2019s recent actions demonstrate, there is a pressing need for the United States to be able to defend its assets in distant orbit. It\u2019s likely we could see similar\u00a0shows of force<\/a>\u00a0in the near term as Space Force responds to other nations\u2019 demonstrations of \u201ckiller\u201d satellite capabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BLUF: As Shijian-21\u2019s recent actions demonstrate, there is a pressing need for the United States to be able to defend its assets in distant orbit. It\u2019s likely we could see similar\u00a0shows of force\u00a0in the near term as Space Force responds to other nations\u2019 demonstrations of \u201ckiller\u201d satellite capabilities. A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enemies-foreign-domestic","category-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76641,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76639\/revisions\/76641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}