Satellites: The Pentagon's Big Blind Spot

Business Week ^ | 10/27/2009 | Joel Schechtman

[Saije]

In January 2007, the Chinese military launched a missile 500 miles into space, shattering an orbiting satellite. The assault was only a test that took out one of China's own weather satellites. But it sparked an international outcry over the country's willingness to use weapons in space. A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council called the test "inconsistent" with efforts for international cooperation.

Military experts have since become concerned that space could become the next battleground for global conflicts. Of particular concern is the lack of visibility with some missile strikes, such as China's in 2007. Some experts say that if an enemy were to launch a similar attack against an American satellite over the Southern Hemisphere, the U.S. military might not know about it. The southern half of the world is something of a blind spot for military space tracking systems, say both senior defense officials involved in space policy and private satellite operators.

"If a collision happens down there, you don't see it," says Paul Graziani, president of Analytical Graphics, which makes systems used by the military to operate and guide satellites. "It takes 45 minutes for the satellite to come back into the Northern Hemisphere. We would be expecting to see a satellite coming around whole but instead just see a bunch of pieces."

The U.S. military uses land-based radar to track its satellites, but it has no such radar installations in the Southern Hemisphere. The gap is a legacy of the Cold War, when the U.S. was focused on missile threats from the Soviet Union, and there were no nuclear-armed adversaries in the Southern Hemisphere.

[Saije]

Yes, this sounds like something we need to address.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Obama + Democrat Congress = “Good luck addressing that”

[LasVegasMac]

Some experts say that if an enemy were to launch a similar attack against an American satellite over the Southern Hemisphere, the U.S. military might not know about it.

Power whine if I ever heard one.

The southern half of the world is something of a blind spot for military space tracking systems, say both senior defense officials involved in space policy and private satellite operators.

Then fix it!

Oh, forgot.....Obama is probably not concerned with issues such as this.

He'd rather give the money to ACORN.

BTW, ACORN trial to start here soon - "and you managed to register the Dallas Cowboy's offensive line as legal voters here in Clark County, Nevada how?"

I really hope I get picked for jury duty.........