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space cowboy.....

Once again, the US is rehashing the cliché of the "China threat theory" - this time in space. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, said during the annual Aspen Security Forum in a panel discussion on space and national security on Wednesday that the US is seeing from China a heightened "intent to use counter-space capabilities to threaten space."



The US' hyping of "China's space threat" seems to have become one of its routine practices. In February, Stephen Whiting, commander of the US Space Command, claimed that China is growing its military space and counter-space capabilities at a "breathtaking speed," listing China as the "pacing strategic competitor" in the space domain. In April, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also mentioned his China-US "space race" rhetoric, claiming that China is militarizing its space program.

"This is a typical means by the US to manipulate public opinion and perception - first hype up a threat, then develop itself," Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. With the development of China's space technology, the US regards China as a hypothetical enemy, using this to pressure Congress and ask for budget, in a bid to strengthen US' space combat capabilities.

The US excels in presenting a robber's logic in an upright manner. Based on these purposes, the US has continuously propagated the "China space threat theory," slandering and defaming China. This is merely to maintain the US' military hegemony, projecting a Cold War mind-set and zero-sum thinking into space.

China has chosen a different path in space development compared to the US. While the US focuses on space technology for hegemony and arms races, China pursues a more peaceful approach. Former US president Donald Trump explicitly stated that it is not enough to merely have an "American presence in space"; it must have "American dominance." As the space capabilities of other countries continue to strengthen, the US' "space anxiety" rises, leading to an acceleration in space militarization. 

In 2018, the Trump administration officially designated space as a "war-fighting domain." The US has actively advanced its space military strategy by establishing the Space Command, creating the Space Force, and investing heavily in offensive space weapons. It has become the primary driver of space militarization and poses the greatest threat to space security. These actions will inevitably jeopardize the space development plans of countries worldwide, potentially sparking a space arms race and undermining global strategic stability.

In contrast, China firmly opposes the arms race in outer space and is committed to promoting negotiations within the international community to reach legal instruments for space arms control in order to safeguard peace and security in outer space through legal means. In 2008, China and Russia jointly submitted the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) to the Conference on Disarmament, which is significant in preventing the weaponization of space. However, the US has long passively resisted the space arms control process, causing the relevant efforts of the international community to stagnate. 

China's development of space technology aims to better serve human scientific and technological progress and civilization advancement. China acts out of public interest, whereas the US acts out of self-interest, highlighting a fundamental difference.

Meanwhile, China actively promotes international space cooperation. In June, after China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe returned with rare lunar samples, China announced that it welcomed scientists from around the world to apply to study the lunar samples. However, the US faces obstacles from the Wolf Amendment enacted in 2011 to curb China's space development, which explicitly prohibits space cooperation between China and the US. Foreign media have even called it "an extremely stupid reason." As a hegemonic power in space, the US maliciously suppresses other countries' legitimate space activities, which will ultimately backfire.

Space is global commons that should be a new domain of cooperation and mutual benefit, rather than a battleground for competition among nations. In the future of space exploration, China will continue to adhere to prioritize the peaceful use of outer space, and provide the necessary technical and knowledge support. We hope to see more dialogue and cooperation between countries in the space field. This will ensure that space benefits all of humanity, rather than allowing the US' manipulation of "China threat theory" to open the "Pandora's box" of space weaponization.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1316311.shtml

new tech....

Pentagon fielding new tech to knock out Chinese and Russian satellites – Bloomberg
The US is seeking to develop its offensive counterspace capabilities with ground-based jammers

Washington is close to boosting its offensive counterspace capabilities with new ground-based jammers designed to temporarily disable satellites deployed by Moscow and Beijing, Bloomberg wrote on Friday, citing sources in the US Space Force (USSF).

Having tested the new systems earlier this year, the US will deploy 11 of 24 Remote Modular Terminal jammers in the coming months, the USSF told the newspaper. They are all expected to be in place by the end of the year. The jammers are not meant to protect US satellites from jamming; rather, they aim to “counter adversary satellite communications capabilities,” the USSF said.

The Space Force has described the terminals as “small, transportable, and low-cost satellite communications jammers,” designed “using commercial off-the-shelf components.”

The jammers will augment other electronic warfare systems such as the already deployed and much larger Counter Communications System and the medium-sized Meadowlands system by offering a more “proliferated, remotely controlled, and relatively relocatable capability,” according to the USSF. They noted that the Meadowlands system has encountered development issues, delaying its rollout until at least October, two years later than planned.

READ MORE: US Congress concerned Russia could be sharing insights on arms with China

These systems will not be “defensive weapons,” but are intended to “attack rival capabilities,” Victoria Samson, the chief director of space security and stability at the Secure World Foundation, said. She classified it as an “offensive counterspace capability,” claiming that the system will be “reversible, temporary, non-escalatory, and allow for plausible deniability in terms of who the instigator is.”

Bloomberg contrasted the apparently offensive nature of these jamming systems with the Pentagon’s usual stance of positioning its “emerging satellite-jamming technology as purely defensive.” They juxtaposed this against the alleged high-altitude electromagnetic pulse weapons the US has accused Russia of developing.

Moscow and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are staunchly against the weaponization of space, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated to journalists earlier this month. Moscow firmly stands against the deployment of any kind of weapons in space, he said.

https://www.rt.com/news/601374-us-jamming-chinese-russian-satellites/

 

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fighting the jammers...

 

Russia Is Ready to Counter US Plans for ‘Satellite Jammers’ in Space

 

The new “satellite jammers” the US intends to deploy in space to target Russian and Chinese satellites are meant to deprive Moscow and Beijing of “command, control, communication and intelligence systems during times of conflict,” said Bruce Gagnon, coordinator at Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

According to him, these US jammers are “intended as offensive weapons” and got “nothing to do with defense whatsoever.”

The United States development of this jammer tech, however, “is forcing Russia and China to develop similar technologies,” Gagnon added.

“And in the case of Russia, I know they're developing ways to block these jammers, to counter these jammers,” he said. “So this is all leading to the rise or the increase or the growth of tensions, escalation of warfare capabilities and space.”

Gagnon also observed that this development takes place as the US “refuses to have a treaty to ban weapons in space,” which effectively forced Russia, China and India to pursue the development of “kinetic energy anti-satellite weapons.”

“For at least 25 years, Russia and China have gone to the United Nations General Assembly and introduced a treaty to prevent all weapons in space,” he lamented, noting that US and Israel “blocked this development of this treaty for more than 25 years” when it was brought to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

Meanwhile, Alexander Mikhailov, head of Russian think tank Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, argued that US move to deploy satellite jammers in space suggest that Washington’s previous attempt to establish a ground-based satellite jamming system was unsuccessful.

Not only did that previous scheme required considerable investments into new jamming facilities on the ground, but the system that “the Americans previously touted as a tested, effective system that can suppress any satellite signal and would thus be able to blind or silence Russian and Chinese satellites – it turned out that this system does not work,” Mikhailov observed.

He also noted that Russian electronic warfare systems are much more advanced than the ones developed by the US, and mentioned multiple reports about Russian systems successfully jamming Starlink satellite signals.

He specifically mentioned the Tirada 2-S systems that “successfully jam satellite communication signals and ‘blind’ the units covered in Starlink satellite dishes.”

Tirada 2-S, Mikhailov explained, is not only capable of suppressing satellite signals – it can also scramble communications and “create false narratives, not only jamming communication channels but deceiving those receiving satellite signals and the satellite in space that receives signals from Earth.”

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240721/russia-is-ready-to-counter-us-plans-for-satellite-jammers-in-space-1119451611.html

 

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SEE ALSO: https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/948

SPACE-TIME POLITICS 

 

By Gus Leonisky at 25 Apr 2005 - 11:24am

reinstated on 21 July 2009 - 10:45

bad welding....

NASA’s inspector general has issued a damning report on Boeing’s rocket division, stating that the aerospace giant’s next-generation spacecraft is years behind schedule, significantly over budget, and built by “inexperienced technicians” led by ineffective managers.

In development since 2014, the Block 1B variant of NASA’s Space Launch System was originally scheduled to lift off as part of the agency’s Artemis II lunar flyby mission next year. The rocket’s debut has since been pushed back to the 2028 Artemis IV moon landing mission, which NASA’s Office of Inspector General warned on Thursday could be delayed even further.

Boeing, which was contracted in 2014 to build the rocket’s powerful upper section, is partly to blame for this delay, the inspector general declared in a report.

NASA inspectors visiting Boeing’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana found glaring “deficiencies in quality,” the report stated. Inspectors issued 71 Corrective Action Requests to remedy these deficiencies, which they noted was “a high number…for a space flight system at this stage in development.” 

These deficiencies “are largely due to the lack of a sufficient number of trained and experienced aerospace workers at Boeing,” the report continued, citing one example of how the company’s “inexperienced technicians”were unable to weld a fuel tank in accordance with NASA standards. This shoddy welding directly led to a seven-month delay in the development of the rocket’s upper stage.

“Boeing’s process to address deficiencies to date has been ineffective, and the company has generally been nonresponsive in taking corrective actions when the same quality control issues reoccur,” the report declared.

Boeing initially promised to deliver the upper stage by February 2021, and now insists that it will be ready by April 2027. Costs have soared in the meantime, with NASA estimating that the stage will set it back $2.8 billion by 2028, more than double Boeing’s 2017 estimate of $962 million.

The inspector general’s office recommended that Boeing be fined for its “noncompliance with quality control standards.” However, NASA’s deputy associate administrator, Catherine Koerner, announced on Thursday that the company would not be penalized.

READ MORE: US astronauts stuck in space

With its aviation division already reeling after a door panel blew off one of its 737 MAX 9 planes in mid-air in January, Boeing was thrust into the headlines again in June when its Starliner spacecraft malfunctioned, leaving two astronauts marooned on the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts were originally meant to stay on the ISS for a week, but NASA announced on Wednesday that they could be stranded in space until 2025, when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is scheduled to drop off a fresh crew of astronauts.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/602394-boeing-nasa-rocket-delay/

 

 

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