Space:The Final Battleground?
Satellite, vital in future wars, are becoming vulnerable
By Stan Crock
For the American Defense Dept. ,the vast improvements in commercial satellite technology are causing big-time worries .During a recent war game ,set in 2021,the military brass who huddled at the U.S. Army Space&Missile Defense Command Springs, Colo. ,faced a sobering challenge: Their fictional enemy was monitoring U.S. troop movements using commercial satellites. That took away the element of surprise that was pivotal in the Persian Gulf War. But if the Americans knocked out the satellite, that would surely precipitate major international complications——because the “bird” was owned by a friendly nation ,and its users included a range of international companies.
The Colorado exercise provides a disturbing preview of future warfare. The all-important high ground will no longer be a Hamburger Hill but an orbiting satellite. And the U.S. can’t count on having the only eagle’s –eye view of a conflict.
“We’re just now beginning to realize the significance of space—and the capabilities that can be provided commercially to our adversaries,” says Colonel Simon P. Worden, head of battle-space dominance for the Air Force.
Many more imaging satellites are on the way, and they’ll sport even sharper “eyes”. Indeed, the number of commercial platforms in orbit is set to soar over the next 10 years, quintupling to 1200, according to Furton Corp. , a Bethesda(Md.) consultant. Most will be communications satellites, bur 30 or so new commercial spy satellites are planned. As a result, high-resolution pictures from space will be routinely available a decade from now, as will cloud-piercing radar images and “hyperspectral” scans that combine hundreds of light bands to produce intricate details about ground features. The technology will enable almost to spot trucks on long-distance hauls —or tanks hidden in woods..