When the government announced last month that a top-secret spy satellite would, in the next few months, come falling out of the sky, officials said that there was little risk to people because satellites fall out of orbit fairly frequently and much of the planet is covered by oceans. But they said precious little about the satellite itself. Read more
Last August, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans for expanding access to military spy satellites directed toward the United States. The official purpose of expanding access to this advanced satellite surveillance network is to monitor suspicious activity around the country with regard to terrorist attacks, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, gang activity and pretty much anything dubbed a threat to national security. Read more
Almost one year after China launched an anti-satellite weapon into space, the US Air Force (USAF) says it has identified significant vulnerabilities in USAF space infrastructure and is aggressively seeking to increase defences against future kinetic attacks and jamming. The Director of Space and Nuclear Operations for the USAF, Brigadier General C Donald Alston, said US Strategic Command has developed a concept of operations that focuses heavily on improving situational awareness in space, protecting satellites from jamming and developing quick and cheap replacements for space assets rendered inoperable for various reasons, including kinetic or jamming attacks.
There are hundreds of satellites we couldn't live without. Satellites have allowed researchers to track weather patterns, changes in sea levels and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Almost two-thirds of active satellites are used for communication.
The United States, has four DSP geostationary satellites, looking at North Korea - DSP F-21 at 70E, DSP F-22 at 130E, DSP F-18 at 145E, and DSP F-17 at 165W; this was augmented by the recently launched NROL-22, and no doubt a few others.
The Russian Space Forces will launch the military satellite Cosmos-2422, aboard a Molniya-M launcher from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in July. The satellite is part of an early-warning system consisting of two US-KS satellites, Cosmos-2388 and Cosmos-2393, and the geostationary satellite Cosmos-2379 of the US-KMO system. The failure of the recently launched Cosmos-2421 may have been exaggerated, and the satellite is in fact fully functional.
The Russian satellite group presently has 100 satellites, whereas the US orbital group consists of 425 satellites.
Japan has postponed the launch of a third spy satellite due to a technical glitch. The satellite will spy on communist North Korea for at least six months. Japan launched two spy satellites in March 2003. The third was set to be launched this year but a government committee postponed it because of a computer chip problem. At least six months are needed to replace the chips and test new ones.
A fourth satellite is still scheduled for launch in the fiscal year starting April 2006. Japan embarked on a spy satellite program following North Korea's surprise test launch of a long-range missile over Japan's main island in 1998. The government's original plan was to put a total of eight spy satellites into orbit through 2006 to keep watch on North Korea.
In November 2003, a rocket carrying two spy satellites malfunctioned and was destroyed in mid-flight.
Officials say the satellites are not meant to provoke the North and would also be used for other purposes such as monitoring natural disasters and weather patterns. Critics say sending spy satellites into space goes against a long-standing Japanese policy of conducting only nonmilitary space missions.