Space Warfare: The Next Level War

There will be more unpredictability in how we get to armed conflict, and that   will make the whole world a more dangerous place. We're right in the middle of it. That’s the reality we have to deal with.  In fact critical technologies are  developing so fast that humanity can barely keep up and ask themselves  the question, is this what we want? So in this article we're going through risks that are not getting enough attention. A future war can be a cyber intrusion against the command and control systems for nuclear weapons or the artificial intelligence behind them could lead to conflicts that move at horrifying speed. All of a sudden you have a war that no one really started and which could spiral out of control. Wars can start more easily, where they can escalate faster, and where humans can't stop them. Machines are dictating the conduct on the battlefield. Machines are making the ultimate decisions about life and death. The good news is: it's not too late to make critical choices.

 

Satellite Orbiting Earth

Space warfare or space war will be a combat that will take place in outer space (outer space is the expanse that exists beyond earth and celestial bodies). Space warfare, if it happens in future will include:

#01. Ground to space warfare – attacking satellites from earth.

#02. Space to ground warfare – attacking ground from space.

#03. Space to space warfare – attacking satellites from satellites.

 

Countries are paying attention to space forces in response to national security, to protect nation satellite and other assets. Exactly 1.5 years ago, in US President’s administration US space force was born. Till date only US space force is only space force that is in existence officially. Currently only four countries are capable to lead in space war. These countries are USA, Russia, China and India. India recently joined the squad. Space warfare in future will create the heavy demand of anti-satellite weapons and that will be the rise of industrial revolution in defense/military sector.

 

Aerial View

 

Anti-satellites (ASAT) are the special weapon systems that are designed to destroy or incapacitate unfriendly satellites for strategic or tactical purpose. Several nations possess ASAT system but no system is utilized in warfare. But the four nations have shot down their own satellite to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities. The roles of ASAT include:

 

#01. Defensive measure against and adversary’s space based and nuclear weapons.

#02. A force multiplier for a nuclear first strike.

#03. A countermeasure against an adversary’s anti-ballistic missile (ABM)

#04. Asymmetric counter to a technology superior adversary and a counter value problem.

 

ASAT can be categorized into three categories:

#01. Direct Fire Weapon: Direct Fire Weapon is a kinetic kill system designed to physically destroy or damaging a satellite using ground/vehicle based system instead of electronically disrupting its orbit or machine.

#02. Direct Energy Weapon: Direct Energy Weapon is a high powered laser or microwave weapon designed to either disrupt or electrically damage a satellite, it makes satellite in-operational.

#03. Micro-satellites: These satellites are less than 500 kg in weight and can be turned into a weapon easily. It damages other satellite physically. The main advantage of micro-satellite is that it can maneuver easily and it is hard to trace 

 

Warfare

ASAT system has a long way to go before they can be fully utilized. 

 

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