Sunday, October 21, 2018

The Pentagon Is Worried About China's Lunar Satellites

A concept of an orbital moon station from Boeing. Boeing

The War Zone/The Drive: China's Lunar Satellites Could Stab U.S. Early Warning Satellites In The Back

China has chosen to head to the dark side of the moon and capabilities to support that cause are raising some eyebrows within the DoD.

China continues to push forward with its ambitious lunar base program, one that supposedly aims for a manned lunar landing by around 2030. But there are emerging concerns that the satellites being sent to support this initiative could also have a far darker purpose—attacking the Pentagon's most critical space-based assets that live in geosynchronous orbit, beginning roughly 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface. These include strategic surveillance platforms, like America's space-based infrared early warning satellite network that detects and tracks ballistic missile launches during their early boost stages and possibly beyond.

Read more ....

Update: China’s Moon Missions Could Threaten US Satellites: Pentagon (Defense One)

WNU editor: China has a long way to go before establishing a base on the moon.

2 comments:

jac said...

Yes, that's for a very later time. That said, if implementing this kind of threat is long, giving the right answer is long too. Better to think now.

Dave Goldstein said...

China always takes the long view.