It sounds like a scene from “Gravity,” but a growing army of space debris orbiting the Earth is increasing the risk of collision for U.S. satellites, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command said.
“My Joint Space Operations Center [at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California] routinely tracks more than 17,000 objects the size of softballs or larger,” Adm. Cecil Haney said. “Which means there are smaller objects that we do not track.”
Of the 17,000 objects, 1,200 are satellites. The rest is debris that generates an average 23 collision-avoidance warnings a day at the joint operations center, Haney said. Last year, the center had to maneuver satellites away from collisions 121 times – three with the International Space Station.
One of the challenges is that the proliferation of small satellites has significantly increased the number of countries that have access to space, and more than 170 countries now have at least one satellite in orbit. Of the 229 satellite payloads that were launched in 2014, 158 were nano or micro satellites — also known as “small sats.” The tiny satellites range in size from about 2 pounds to 110 pounds each.
“The space domain is more congested, contested and competitive, and increasingly vulnerable,” Haney said.
The U.S. has 512 known satellites currently in orbit, more than Russia and China combined. About two-thirds of the U.S. satellites are U.S. military or government, while the rest are commercial.
But recent moves by China and Russia have the Stratcom commander concerned.
“Both countries have acknowledged that they are developing or have developed counter-space capabilities. Both countries have advanced directed energy capabilities that could be used to trap or blind satellites, disrupting key operations, and both have demonstrated the ability to perform complex maneuvers in space,” he said at an Air Force Association Mitchell Institute seminar.
Last May, Russia launched a rocket that had three military satellites and what was thought to be debris — until the debris started some “very curious, non-debris like maneuvers,” Haney said. The satellite has since dropped into an orbit to likely rendezvous with another Russian satellite and “has our attention,” he said.
