In mid-November, Moscow flexed its military muscle by test-launching a missile that struck a Russian satellite, to show that it can fight wars in space. The blast created a large debris field in low-Earth orbit that is expected to pose a threat to satellites and space activities for years to come.
Russia is not the only country to have conducted such an anti-satellite missile test. The U.S., China and India have carried out similar tests in the past, and some countries are developing other means to disrupt an adversary’s satellite operations, including by jamming their signals or using “killer satellites,” the latter of which approach a target satellite and utilize a robotic arm or similar method to capture it and disable its functions.
As the new space race escalates, protecting space assets has become vital to a nation’s security and economy. For many advanced countries, satellites have become indispensable public infrastructure, as they increasingly rely on these systems for telecommunications, television and radio broadcasting, weather forecasts and navigation. And modern militaries wouldn’t be able to operate without the data and information for communication, surveillance, navigation and unit coordination that satellites provide.