The cold war that is already being waged in space: a Chinese satellite takes another out of its orbit and worries the US about its potential military use

On January 22, a Chinese satellite grabbed another of the same nationality and took it out of its geosynchronous orbit to tow it to what is known as a graveyard orbit, an area located above the geostationary where some of these vehicles are placed that are outside of service to reduce the risk of collisions with others that remain active and to move away the possible space debris that they generate from the Earth.

The operation, therefore, had peaceful purposes, but the high maneuverability that the Chinese satellite has shown so close to another vehicle in orbit has increased the fears of the US authorities, who for several years have been closely monitoring the ability of the space technology with potential military use from both Chinese and Russian, according to informa The Drive.

Fear of dual use. What worries US observers the most is the great precision shown by the Chinese satellite in carrying out the maneuver, since they consider that it could be used for hostile purposes. Officially, China indicates that this satellite, called SJ-21, is intended for maintenance, assembly and manufacturing tasks in orbit. In theory, its mission is to try to extend the useful life of other satellites and reduce the risk of collision of those that have already stopped working.

The Americans, however, believe that if the SJ-21 has the ability to grab a dead satellite and pull it out of its orbit, nothing prevents it from doing the same with an operational one.

A space cold war. The recent maneuver of the SJ-21 is but the latest chapter in a kind of cold war that has been waged for a long time between the United States, China and Russia. These three powers constantly observe what the others are doing in orbit with their satellites and other space vehicles to try to find out what their rivals are up to and anticipate possible dangers, a situation that has reached notable peaks of tension.

Thus, a few months ago Russia tested an anti-satellite missile that endangered the International Space Station, in 2020 an American spy satellite was closely followed by a Russian vehicle similar to the SJ-21 and since 2013 there have been reports in the United States warning about the rapid advancement of Chinese space technology capabilities in satellites with robotic arms, among other cases.

possible attacks. In addition to knocking another nation’s satellite out of orbit, The Drive notes that vehicles like the SJ-21 have the ability to jam transmissions and blind sensors of other space vehicles, sabotage their solar panels and lenses with aerosols or physically manipulate them in other ways to render us inoperative.

What the United States is silent. In addition to espionage and constant political and economic tension, the Cold War was characterized by the use of propaganda as a weapon: discrediting the rival and extolling one’s own. Both US officials and their commercial partners for space observation speculate about the potential dangers of Russian and Chinese high-precision satellites to maneuver close to other orbiting vehicles, but are silent on the technology itself.

And it is that the information on the capacity of the space technology of the United States Government in defense matters is classified, so there is no clear idea what its own satellites can do.