America is getting ready for space warfare
In space warfare, the U.S. military is seeking the ultimate high ground. The satellites central to national defense and global communications have long faced threats from the ground, such as signal jamming and missile attacks.
Orbital menaces are the next frontier. Intelligence disclosures about Russia’s interest in antisatellite weapons and satellite launches from China have energized U.S. efforts to defend its interests hundreds and even thousands of miles above the Earth’s surface.
Defense companies are developing systems ranging from satellites that can chase other satellites in orbit to protecting ground stations that can beam signals to space. Those protections are critical as mobile navigation services and some television and internet services rely on equipment in orbit. Commercial startups are working on technologies, including orbital capsules, sensors and satellite structures, that could have military applications.
Pentagon officials are also doing something unusual: talking more publicly about the weapons that hostile nations might use in space to engage in warfare. Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force’s top operational leader, said adversaries are trying every day to restrict access that the U.S.
and its allies have in space. “I have got to counter that threat to ensure that the space capabilities that we have come to depend on for our way of life will be there well into the future," he said at an industry conference in March. Military officials, however, won’t discuss details about the U.S.’s own weapon systems in orbit, which are closely held government secrets.
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