Silent Barker- US Spy satellite launched: Another attempt to keep an eye on China and Russia after NATO Trap

Silent Barker to be launched

In the latest development in the growing extra-terrestrial conflict between superpowers, the United States Space Force plans to deploy a network of satellites this summer to monitor Chinese and Russian space vehicles that may destroy or harm orbiting objects.

American satellites anticipate expanding its “surveillance” purpose against supposed threats from China and Russia, after the country’s failed efforts to establish NATO bases in India and provide for itself methods to keep an eye on the two nations.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John F. Plumb has argued that space is vital to the safety and success of the United States. The military relies heavily on space to compete and combat in all spheres. It gives them a vital tool for protecting their country, a missile warning as well as tracking system. It helps in pinpointing a target’s location and striking at the right time. under addition, it enables communication under harsh conditions, which is essential for maintaining worldwide command and control. Simply defined, he said, space-based operations are crucial to the American system of war.  Plumb participated at a hearing on national security space operations before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee. 

Increasingly sophisticated capabilities are being deployed and developed to foil U.S. space operations, he said. Weather predictions, critical military intelligence, and even financial systems all rely heavily on satellite data. It stores a nation’s intelligence, facilitates communications, and steers it across a variety of industries.

According to the Space Force and experts, the Silent Barker network is expected to be the first of its type to supplement sensors located on the ground and low-Earth-orbiting satellites. The satellites are expected to be positioned in geosynchronous orbit, which is roughly 22,000 miles (35,400 km) above the Earth and spins at the same speed as the planet.

The Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office, who are developing the satellites, made a joint statement about how they will use the capability to locate, identify, and monitor objects from space in order to detect threats as soon as possible.

According to a statement released by the NRO, the Atlas V launcher operated by Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.’s United Launch Alliance will be used to launch the Silent Barker satellite constellation sometime after July. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter will be used thirty days in advance to advertise the official debut date, marking a radical turn for an organization that, despite its lengthy history, was kept secret until 1992.

According to Sarah Mineiro, who used to be head staffer on the House Armed Services Committee strategic subcommittee which supervises space programmes, the new constellation will greatly improve Space Force’s capacity to track on-orbit, adversary satellites which may be maneuvering around or in close proximity to American satellites.

The Space Force and NRO have been tight-lipped about the exact number of satellites that will comprise the Silent Barker constellation.

The Space Force pointed out how space surveillance extends the capabilities of terrestrial sensors by collecting data on satellite operations around the clock regardless of atmospheric conditions. Distance, geographic location, and weather are only some of the challenges faced by ground-based sensors that keep tabs on items in geosynchronous orbit. Silent Barker, on the other hand, is made to fill up these gaps in observation by offering more extensive and thorough coverage.

The purpose of Silent Barker

The development of systems that might launch into orbit and potentially disable other satellites by China and Russia led to the creation of Silent Barker. The United States is getting more and more worried about this.

According to Sarah Mineiro, Silent Barker eliminates the shortcomings of ground-based or lower-orbit monitoring systems and enables the US to fully understand what’s happening in space.

The People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, possesses weaponry designed to attack US and allies’ satellites, and counterspace operations will be crucial to any prospective military campaigns, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in its annual threat assessment this year.

The SJ-21 spacecraft from China, which had been launched in 2021 and subsequently successfully towed a retired Chinese satellite hundreds of miles into a higher orbit, serves as one illustration. In accordance to a 2022 Defense Intelligence Agency study, another Chinese satellite, the Sijian-17, is outfitted with a robotic arm that might be used to grab hold of other spacecraft.

The commander of the US Space Command, General James Dickinson, testified before Congress in March that the SJ-21 could obviously play a counter-space role and put American geosynchronous satellites at danger. According to Space Force, the SJ-21 is the kind of space item, Silent Barker would keep track of as it searches for new items to find or detect.

Is US preparing for World War 3?

After the American military created anti-satellite technologies to confront threats posed by belligerent nations, especially Russia and China, the United States assured that it was prepared for combat in outer space. According to a senior US military official, the US would be willing to engage in orbital conflicts to combat Russian aggressiveness and China’s ambition to control space power by the middle of the century. According to a US Army official, the US has the capability to engage in combat tonight in space if necessary.

On Thursday, Brigadier General Jesse Morehouse stated that the USA has no other option but to get ready for an intergalactic clash at the US embassy in London. They are prepared to fight immediately if someone threatens the US or any of the nation’s interests, which includes the interests of its partner nations and allies with whom they have entered into agreements of mutual defense assistance.

America has been creating anti-satellite technologies, according to Morehouse, not for the reason that they are interested in engaging in combat right now, but rather since it is the most effective strategy to prevent conflict from arising. He added that the nation would keep developing its orbital skirmishing capabilities without conducting careless testing.

According to Morehouse, they have a range of capabilities they can utilize and will keep developing in order to sustain a trustworthy deterrent position.

Does USA face risk from China and Russia?

Both China and Russia are developing spacecrafts that can operate against satellites. A projectile was allegedly launched from one of the two satellites which were following a US surveillance satellite in 2020, according to the US.

China has also discovered a method to plant explosions in the thruster nozzles of rival satellites and deployed a satellite having a robotic arm that can capture other satellites. The explosives are intended to remain undiscovered for extended periods of time and, when they detonate, mimic a normal engine fault.

Other methods include jamming satellite broadcasts, damaging the technology with lasers, toxic sprays, or powerful microwaves. These methods are used in addition to weapons that grasp, crash into, or take down the objects they are targeting.

A different leaked document asserts that China has acquired substantial abilities to put important Allied and American space assets in jeopardy and would use them in a fight with Taiwan. Together, the analyses underscore the growing significance of space in contemporary combat, which has been emphasized by the situation in Ukraine, and also indicate the types of dangers that military strategists have already been alerting about for decades. As the U.S. Space Force begins its third term of operations and senior Pentagon officers raise the alarm over growing dangers from space, the leak occurs.

Space Force General Chance Saltzman, the head of space operations, said the Pentagon is witnessing an extremely complex range of threats, including interfering with of communications along with GPS satellites, spacecrafts which can grapple other satellites, laser beams which can dazzle them, cyber-attacks, and perhaps even nesting dolls, or the satellites which release others that spread around and monitor adversaries’ spacecrafts. Saltzman made the remarks this past week during the Space Symposium conference at Colorado Springs.

Addressing the conference, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall noted that China has surpassed twofold of the total number of its satellites in the short time since the Space Force had been created. More than 700 are currently in use, with 250 of them being utilized for ISR, as well as intelligence-gathering, monitoring, and reconnaissance.

China and Russia both possess the capability to use missiles to obliterate satellites in space. China did this in 2007, and in 2021, Russia used a missile to annihilate a dying satellite, leaving behind an enormous amount of debris and eliciting criticism from the USA as well as the rest of the world. In an effort to interfere with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, which helped keep Ukrainians linked during the conflict with Russia, Russia additionally carried out experiments involving its Tobol electronic warfare system.

Russia has vowed to attack western commercial satellites which it believes are taking part in the conflict since it invaded Ukraine. Elon Musk decided to give Ukraine access to the Starlink constellation of satellites soon after the war started, and these satellites quickly proved essential to the Ukrainian military. However, Starlink announced in February that it will stop Ukrainian drones from being controlled by satellites, claiming that it never intended for the technology to be utilized or implemented for aggressive reasons.

The resilience of Starlink, according to Morehouse, was one among the lessons learned from the conflict. Numerous little satellites in low Earth orbit make up the system for communication, and they may be swiftly substituted or modified to address any concerns. He claimed that since there are thousands of them and Russia lacks thousands of anti-satellite weapons, it doesn’t make sense for Russia to make an effort to take one down.

China continues to advance towards its objective of establishing itself as a global superpower in space, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ yearly “Space Threat Assessment” study, which was published just recently. China has maintained its position of being the second-most capable space power after the United States during the past year by continuing to expand its aerospace and counterspace assets. In addition, China has built a space station in low Earth orbit, sent a spacecraft to the moon’s distant side, and sent a rover to Mars. Approaching the lunar southern pole, where NASA’s Artemis programme also hopes to deploy astronauts, it also has plans to land astronauts on the moon.

Of the two American adversaries, China’s space programme is by far the more active, according to American officials.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized during an address to Congress this past week that the United States and China are engaged in a space competition on a civilian level additionally and urged the country to send astronauts to the moon prior to China does.

Our competitors have watched us, they have learned from us, they’ve stolen from us, and they have developed capabilities to hold us at risk. But they are not ready for us. They’re not ready for us today, they will not be ready for us tomorrow.

John F. Plumb