She knows the time: US satellites launched to spy on China’s space program

Greetings,

(FYI: She knows that it is China and the Asian nations who are readying to push her out of the East and break her power of force there economically, culturally, and militarily! She is scared are hell because she knows the time, and that this time demands her loss of power and complete fall!)

US satellites launched to spy on China’s space program: Global Times

The Atlas V rocket launched with the Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, August 5, 2011. (File photo/Xinhua)

A Delta IV rocket carrying two US Air Force satellites was launched on the evening of July 23 at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, according to US newspaper Stars and Stripes, which China’s nationalistic Global Times says is an attempt to spy on China’s space infrastructure.

The satellites are equipped with a Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) which enables the air force to observe the satellite’s surroundings in space, including US and foreign space infrastructure. They will be the first satellites to be launched with the system installed.

The online version of US newspaper Florida Today reported that the launch time–7:03pm–of the two satellites was kept confidential ahead of the launch. Agence France-Presse reported that the two satellites will be sent to the vicinity of geosynchronous orbit 36,000 kilometers above the equator, where US satellites are concentrated.

Stars and Stripes quoted General William Shelton as saying, “This neighborhood watch twosome will be on the lookout for nefarious capability other nations might try to place in that critical orbital regime.” The paper also quoted Shelton as saying that the GSSAP-equipped satellites make use of their increased maneuverability to take images of other satellites from the best possible vantage point. The imagery capabilities on the new satellites are “a big leap forward” compared with the ones the US has been using to monitor objects circling the earth, he said.

“Today the way we track threats in geosynchronous orbit is by basically points of light, and as we take a picture of the sky and dwell on that part of the sky, [we know that] things that are moving are satellites, [and] things that are stationary are stars. Through our points of light and various other means, we make inferences on what a particular [foreign] satellite can do,” Shelton said.

The GSSAP “gives us an ability to look at literal images of objects in geosynchronous orbit. A picture is worth a thousand inferences because we can see literally what that [foreign] satellite looks like, and you can effectively reverse-engineer and understand what the capabilities are to a much greater extent than you can today.”

Agence France-Presse said that so far surveillance in space is mainly operated from the ground or low orbit areas several hundred kilometers above the ground. Shelton said that publishing its GSSAP project is aimed at warning countries that might be conspiring to destroy or disable US satellites.

China’s space capabilities have improved rapidly over recent years, and the Pentagon is worried that China will disable its satellites if war breaks out, according to Stars and Stripes. Shelton refused to reveal more information about what measures the Pentagon plans to take against anti-satellite weapons.

Zhang Zhao-zhong, professor at PLA National Defence University said in an interview with the Global Times on July 23 that the US takes control of space very seriously as evidenced by the space race with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The US feels threatened by China, he said. He added that recent budget cuts in the US may have spurred the US Army to exaggerate the threat that China poses in space in order to secure more funds.

References:

Zhang Zhao-zhong　　張召忠

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