![]() “It’s important for societies to understand the relevance of space,” Armagno said. Australia was developing a number of such satellites and the ability to launch them into orbit, she said. That included building nimbler, smaller satellites in order to replace any that are destroyed. The Russian event created 1,500 pieces of debris, which threatened cosmonauts and astronauts on the ISS.Īrmagno said the US and its allies, including Australia, needed to work together to make space more resilient. Armagno said the US was still tracking 600 pieces of debris from China’s 2007 “demonstration”.Įven a tiny piece of debris could seriously damage spacecraft such as the International Space Station, which manoeuvres to avoid them. The other is the debris created by a destroyed satellite. A direct attack – through anti-satellite missiles, grappling arms, or hacking or jamming a satellite – is one. ![]() There are two ways attacks on satellites could take out communication networks. That in turn makes it more likely to “salt the Earth”, or destroy access to space, because it has “less to lose”, he said. The US was also concerned about an occasion last year where a Chinese satellite with a grappling arm moved another satellite out of orbit.Īdamson said Russia’s own space program was faltering, leaving it less reliant on space infrastructure. She also described China’s 2007 destruction of one of its own satellites as shocking, irresponsible and intentional. “What does war in space look like? We probably won’t see it with our naked eye but we will definitely feel the consequences from the moment it begins.” “I don’t want to be dramatic,” Armagno said. Asked what the end game could be, she said, “Life as we know it would no longer be as we know it.”Īttacks on satellites can take out GPS systems, banking systems, power grids, first responders’ communications, and impact on military operations, they said. ![]() She said China was openly documenting and describing its demonstrations of power in space. ![]()
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