China radar at South Pole could sabotage U.S. spy satellites

World Tribune ^ | 2/2/06

[LibWhacker]

Beijing announced plans last week to build a high-frequency radar on the South Pole. Analysts say the radar could be used to disrupt U.S. intelligence satellites.

China's Zhongshan Station in Antarctica on
Jan. 24. AP Photo /Xinhua, Zhang Zongtang

The radar will be built at China’s Zhongshan Station, where Beijing has set up of a space environment lab.

National security analysts say the South Pole site, because of its remoteness, could be used by China to develop anti-satellite lasers capable of blinding or disrupting U.S. reconnaissance satellites, most of which pass over the pole.

The station will consist of 20 antenna units, including 16 units for the main antenna and four for the auxiliary antenna. Each antenna is 20 meters high. The high-frequency radar can detect ionospheric convection within a range of 3,000 kilometers.

Chinese officials told Xinhua the station would be used to measure the polar space environment.

China’s space program, unlike the U.S. space program, is directly related to Chinese military operations.

A Pentagon report on the Chinese military last year said China was “working on, and plans to field, ASAT systems.”

[Nateman]

Why not just build it in China? They have total control there. Anybody could watch them in Antarctica.

[Wolfhound777]

So blind it back.

[quantim]

National security analysts say the South Pole site, because of its remoteness,

And likewise, the easiest targetable outpost on the planet...

[Hypervigilant]

Message to ANYONE in Washington who is; listening, not a liberal, not taking bribes, not a muslim, not suicidal, not an imbecile, not anti-american, not a chinese spy-

DON'T LET THE CHINESE DEVELOP AN ABILITY TO CRIPPLE OUR NEAR SPACE ASSETS.

[Paleo Conservative]

But how much power could these radars direct at satellits? Unless the Chinese have a small nuclear power generating station at their research station, I think they'd have difficulty keeping enough fuel available to power the radars. Just about everything delivered to the south pole is brought by air.

[Starwolf]

Becasue many of the satellites they would want to disable do not fly over China

[Wiz]

ping

[Paleo Conservative]

Becasue many of the satellites they would want to disable do not fly over China

Of course they fly over China, but they also fly over the rest of the world too. Since they are in polar orbits the fly over both polar regions every orbit whereas they would only be seen over China for a fraction of the orbits.

[RPTMS]

Barf: The minute we move in there, they'll spot us on their radar.

Lone Star: Unnn uhh! Not if we jam it!

[dr_lew]

What part of "pole" don't you understand?

The poles are stationary points wrt the earth's rotation. Satellites in polar, or near polar, orbits will cross near the poles on every orbit, but will visit mid-latitude points only occasionally as the earth turns underneath the inertially fixed plane of the orbit.

[B4Ranch]

ping

[Nateman]

Rather expensive to knock them down in Antarctica when you can simply wait for them to pass over China and then destroy them. Unless the satellite is in a 24 hour orbit it will pass over any territory in a polar orbit eventually.

[Paleo Conservative]

dr_lew Rather expensive to knock them down in Antarctica when you can simply wait for them to pass over China and then destroy them. Unless the satellite is in a 24 hour orbit it will pass over any territory in a polar orbit eventually.

But if you want to take them all out very quickly, it's an ideal location except for the logistics. In a war, you would want to knock them out as quickly as possible.

[dr_lew]

If the satellites are in polar orbits, they pass over the poles every 1.5-2 hours, if they are in LEO. You might have to wait a day or more to get a shot at them from any particular mid-latitude longitude. The pole provides an obviously advantageous base of operations for this reason. Whether this justifies the supposition that the Chinese motives are other than purely scientific, I couldn't say, except I don't think the Chinese could recognize a purely scientific motive if it bit them in the ass.

[garandgal]

WAR, you say? What war? The Chinese are our good and loyal friends and trading partners.

Why, they are just days away from bursting out into "democracy."

You will of course, ignore the fact that every six months one of their crazy leaders threatens to nuke us. Wouldn't want to interfere with the ability of the American people to buy cheap toasters (thus increasing our standard of living), or anything.

[Tyche]

Every knows the Chinese are there because they are looking for the Nazi UFO Base! /s

http://www.germanufochatter.com/Nazi-South-Polar-Base/

[CurlyDave]

Isn't there a treaty which forbids militarization of the South Pole?

This would seem like a clear violation.

Although I have to admit that the South Pole would be a nice place to test an EMP weapon.

[AZRepublican]

Welp, if you are going to disrupt US sats you won't gain anything by disrupting them while they are over the pole. There is little that can be done to them aside from maybe a powerful high temp laser, something the chinese have a long ways to go and by time they have it we will have more laser resistent sats up.

[old republic]

LOL. Only one country would Dare give us the rasberry...