Defense urged to develop a weapon to disable foreign satellites

The United States should begin to develop ways to attack foreign-operated satellites because nations such as China are pursuing weapons that can disable or destroy space-based systems, a consultant to the Council on Foreign Relations told a House panel on Wednesday.

China demonstrated in 2007 an ability to shoot down satellites and has started to develop laser and microwave-based anti-satellite weapons, so the United States should develop limited space offensive capabilities to defend its increasing reliance on satellite systems for communications, surveillance, navigation and weather forecasting, consultant Bruce MacDonald told the Armed Services Committee.

"There is a risk that China or another adversary could exploit this fast-growing U.S. dependence on space in a war to greatly weaken U.S. military and economic power," he said.

But MacDonald warned the United States should be careful in pursuing such a strategy. The Defense Department "needs to think long and hard before we deploy a major offensive space capability," he said. But "If there are no feasible alternatives, then we should develop a limited offensive capability in a deterrence context."

MacDonald served as assistant director for national security at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as senior director for science and technology on the National Security Council staff from 1995 to 1999.

In January 2007, China successfully destroyed one of its own satellites with an anti-satellite missile, a show of force that accelerated research into space-based weapons systems.

But a U.S. anti-satellite weapon should be de designed to temporarily disable rather than destroy an enemy satellite, and it should be cost-effective, meaning it should be cheaper to build than it would cost an adversary to develop a defense against it, MacDonald said. Defense also should design the weapon so it inflicts minimal collateral damage to other satellites near the targeted satellite, he added.

The United States should keep in mind that the development of offensive systems must not lead to a space arms race, MacDonald said. If the United States acquires offensive space capabilities, it must do so "in a manner that other nations view as unthreatening as possible," he said. "Otherwise, we could create a self-fulfilling prophecy: As nations like China or Russia see evidence of U.S. attempted space hegemony, they would accelerate their own efforts, just as we would if the roles were reversed."

The United States cannot afford to conduct anti-satellite weapon tests, let alone use them operationally because of the damage that the space debris caused by a destroyed satellite would cause to all objects in space, said Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a Washington think tank that focuses on security issues.

"Space debris poses a common threat to all space-faring nations," said Krepon, who served in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency at the State Department during the Carter administration. "Space debris travels at 10 times the speed of a rifle bullet in low-Earth orbit. A piece of debris the size of a child's marble could strike a satellite with approximately the same energy as a one-ton safe dropped from a five-story building."

The worst debris fields in space are caused by actions that pulverize satellites, such as the one that occurred in February, when a defunct Russian satellite collided with an iridium communications satellite, he added.

The Reagan administration carried out an anti-satellite test in 1985 that generated 300 pieces of trackable debris, one of which came within one mile of the newly launched International Space Station 14 years later. It took 19 years for the last piece of debris from that test to fall into Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate, Krepon said.

China's 2007 anti-satellite test created the worst-ever manmade debris field in space, generating approximately 40,000 pieces of lethal debris and an estimated 2 million debris fragments overall, he added.

Krepon said space debris can cause potential harm to all satellites, and he called for the development of a global space code of conduct that would include a pledge to not engage in harmful interference with satellites.

He also proposed that all nations accept "the responsibility to share information related to safe space operations and traffic management and to enhance cooperation on space situational awareness."

In addition, MacDonald told the panel there is an urgent need for space traffic management capabilities, including enforceable rules, codes of conduct and space situational awareness that could be used by what he termed "an FAA for space."

Last month the Secure World Foundation called for development of a civil space traffic control system modeled on the Federal Aviation Administration. The foundation plans to hold on March 23 and 24 a Space Awareness conference to provide information to satellite operators globally.