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China killed one of our spy satellites with a ground-based laser. I think a good rule of thumb is if we can shoot it down, its trespassing.
by c3534l 4y ago
China killed one of our spy satellites with a ground-based laser. I think a good rule of thumb is if we can shoot it down, its trespassing.
- willis936 4y agoAre you sure they haven't only tested/demonstrated that capability? I haven't heard of an actual satellite warfare incident yet. That would be a very huge deal.
- jandrewrogers 4y agoInformation about satellite warfare incidents is tightly classified. Nonetheless, it is a bit of an open secret that these types of incidents (not necessarily lasers) have escalated markedly in recent years. The countries most affected by this tend to be those that are not traditional space powers but nonetheless have many space assets e.g. Western Europe.
- frankfrankfrank 4y ago“tightly classified” … as is everything that would embarrass or expose the ever increasingly crooked and immoral people that have accumulated in the US government. Otherwise, the “citizens” may start realizing it’s basically all just lies, fraudulent, and fake; which is a bit of a problem for a multilevel Ponzi scheme.
- willis936 4y agoYou cannot hide satellites or debris from a satellite being destroyed. Everything close to Earth is large enough to be spotted from reflected light. Everything far away is spotted with radar. There are many private and government players across the globe who care deeply about what is occupying what orbits because it is a finite resource.
- c3534l 4y agoI'm getting superfluous search results because of recent news, but yes, this was a decent news story many years ago. The US basically said "fair enough."
- carlosjobim 4y agoGive at least one source, I've never heard of anything like it.
- c3534l 4y agoI thought I was remembering a single specific event, but maybe not. Plenty of sources none the less. https://www.independent.co.uk/space/russia-china-attack-us-satellites-lasers-b1972406.html?amp https://www.independent.co.uk/space/russia-china-attack-us-s... This one might have been the one I misremembered, but it doesn't seem like quite the right one: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/bachmanns-claim-that-china-blinded-us-satellites/2011/10/03/gIQAHvm7IL_blog.html&ved=2ahUKEwi66reUlJT9AhUYJzQIHRViDSQ4ChAWegQIDxAB&usg=AOvVaw1N1p6yPu6HkELWLU7vjWB5 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/... I think more likely I just upgraded "jammed" to destroyed - its not like I was imagining an explosion, just overwhelming its optical sensors. Problem is I remember some diplomatic back and forth, too. https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-uses-laser-to-jam-us-satellite-20061006-gdojgd.html https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-uses-laser-to-jam-us-sate... Unrelated, but it looks like can also take out satellites with just regular missiles. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/2007/jan/19/china.spaceexploration1 https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/200... So maybe I was misremembering, but I really wouldn't be surprised if a sattelite was put out of comission before, but was just not disclosed or admitted to.
- carlosjobim 4y agoThank you for a great reply!