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Not just China, and not just drones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident However, this incident is

Not just China, and not just drones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident However, this incident is going to establish an interesting precedent of when it is ok to shoot down an satellite.

richiebful1 4y ago
How is this fundamentally different from the U-2 incident? The precedent is already set: a nation has sovereign rights over its airspace
- arethuza 4y ago
  Interestingly enough there doesn't seem to be an agree vertical extent as to where "airspace" stops: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace I don't see how this would set a precedent - it was over the US and they shot it down, seems pretty clear cut to me.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    > Interestingly enough there doesn't seem to be an agree vertical extent as to where "airspace" stops... I suspect you'll get pretty universal agreement that 60-80k feet isn't that limit, though.
  - manuelmoreale 4y ago
    > Interestingly enough there doesn't seem to be an agree vertical extent as to where "airspace" stops But there is a somewhat shared definition of where space start in the Kármán line at 100km of altitude so it should follow that the vertical airspace stops where space sparts? I might be completely wrong though.
inglor_cz 4y ago
The difference between a baloon and a satellite is pretty massive, and airspace != space. Granted, there is no clear border between those two (the Kármán line is somewhat artificial), but there is a clear difference between orbiting stuff and stuff that needs air in order to fly, and long term behavior of powers that be clearly distinguishes between those two.
- amanaplanacanal 4y ago
  I suspect historically it had more to do with capabilities than anything else. If you had the power to shoot it down, you would, and nobody could shoot down a satellite. Of course now, everybody and their brother has satellites and shooting them down would be major bad for everybody involved.
  - Turing_Machine 4y ago
    Yes. In practice, your airspace is what you can defend. This kind of thing has a long history -- the old "three mile limit" for territorial waters had more to do with the maximum range of cannon than it did anything else.

richiebful1 4y ago

How is this fundamentally different from the U-2 incident? The precedent is already set: a nation has sovereign rights over its airspace

arethuza 4y ago
Interestingly enough there doesn't seem to be an agree vertical extent as to where "airspace" stops: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace I don't see how this would set a precedent - it was over the US and they shot it down, seems pretty clear cut to me.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  > Interestingly enough there doesn't seem to be an agree vertical extent as to where "airspace" stops... I suspect you'll get pretty universal agreement that 60-80k feet isn't that limit, though.
- manuelmoreale 4y ago
  > Interestingly enough there doesn't seem to be an agree vertical extent as to where "airspace" stops But there is a somewhat shared definition of where space start in the Kármán line at 100km of altitude so it should follow that the vertical airspace stops where space sparts? I might be completely wrong though.

inglor_cz 4y ago

The difference between a baloon and a satellite is pretty massive, and airspace != space. Granted, there is no clear border between those two (the Kármán line is somewhat artificial), but there is a clear difference between orbiting stuff and stuff that needs air in order to fly, and long term behavior of powers that be clearly distinguishes between those two.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago
I suspect historically it had more to do with capabilities than anything else. If you had the power to shoot it down, you would, and nobody could shoot down a satellite. Of course now, everybody and their brother has satellites and shooting them down would be major bad for everybody involved.
- Turing_Machine 4y ago
  Yes. In practice, your airspace is what you can defend. This kind of thing has a long history -- the old "three mile limit" for territorial waters had more to do with the maximum range of cannon than it did anything else.