The US military warns of China and Russia’s space ambitions. A satellite with a gripper arm plays an important role in the threat scenarios set up.

At a hearing as part of the Negotiations on the defense budget for the coming years before the US Senate have warned representatives of the US military of the potential threat posed by Chinese and Russian space ambitions. Both countries are currently strongly expanding their arsenal of weapons for orbit. The US space command needs additional financial resources in order to be able to upgrade as well.

China, so US Space Command General James Dickinson, for example, is developing positioning and communication systems for his space forces. In addition, various anti-satellite weapons are being built while the Chinese government is arguing in public against weapons in space. Dickinson describes Russia’s ambitions to expand its weapons systems for use in space as similarly threatening.

Dickinson specifically warned against China’s options for the satellites of other countries to destroy. As an example, the US general named the Shijian-17 satellite, which has a gripper arm. This could be used in the future to pull other satellites out of their orbit or to make them inoperable. Laser systems that China is building on the ground also served for similar purposes.

According to China, Shijian-17 is an experimental communication and transmission satellite, as The Register writes. The satellite has an electric drive and can locate space debris. However, the satellite is said to have performed unusual maneuvers in orbit that could bring it closer to other satellites.

Air Vice-Marshal @HarvSmyth, director of the UK’s Space Directorate, has responded to a recent Russian satellite test in space: pic.twitter.com/zGdGwCemmR

— Ministry of Defense 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 23, 2020

Russia, on the other hand, says Dickinson, is testing a mobile Ground missile capable of destroying satellites in low orbit. According to allegations from the USA and Great Britain, this weapon system could also be integrated into satellites in order to attack other satellites. Most recently, however, an analysis by the US Congress had shown that China and Russia are now concentrating on virtual attacks, such as malware attacks, instead of physical destruction.

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