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GRAVES development



 
 
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Old June 8th 07, 07:54 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Allen Thomson
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Default GRAVES development


http://www.space.com/news/060707_graves_web.html

French Say 'Non' to U.S. Disclosure of Secret Satellites
By PETER B. de SELDING
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 08 June 2007
09:58 am ET

BROYE-LES-PESMES, France - A French space-surveillance radar has
detected 20-30 satellites in low Earth orbit that do not figure in the
U.S. Defense Department's published catalogue, a discovery that French
officials say they will use to pressure U.S. authorities to stop
publishing the whereabouts of French reconnaissance and military
communications satellites.

After 16 months of operations of their Graves radar system, which can
locate satellites in orbits up to 1,000 kilometers in altitude and
even higher in certain cases, the French Defense Ministry says it has
gathered just about enough information to negotiate an agreement with
the United States.

The U.S. Defense Department's Space Surveillance Network is the
world's gold standard for cataloguing satellites and debris in both
low Earth orbit and the higher geostationary orbit at 36,000
kilometers in altitude, where telecommunications satellites operate.

Data from the U.S. network of ground-based sensors is regularly
published and used worldwide by those tracking satellite and space-
debris trajectories. The published U.S. information excludes sensitive
U.S. defense satellites, but regularly publishes data on the orbits of
other nations' military hardware.

In a series of presentations here at the site of the French Graves
radar facility, French defense officials said they are gathering data
on classified satellites in low Earth orbit as part of a future
European space-surveillance program that European Space Agency
governments will be asked to approve in 2008. This program, with a
cost of some 300 million euros ($405 million), would feature higher-
performance radars to track space debris in low orbit and in
geostationary orbit.

This new space surveillance program may or may not be approved by
European governments. But the Graves radar, and a complementary system
operated by the German government, together already are enough to
pinpoint the location, size, orbit and transmissions frequencies of
satellites that the United States would prefer not be broadcast
worldwide, French officials said.

"We have discussed the Graves results with our American colleagues and
highlighted the discrepancies between what we have found and what is
published by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network," said one French
defense official responsible for the Graves operation. "They told us,
'If we have not published it in our catalogue, then it does not
exist.' So I guess we have been tracking objects that do not exist. I
can tell you that some of these non-existent objects have solar
arrays."

Col. Yves Blin, deputy head of the space division at the French joint
defense staff, said France would wait until it had acquired, with the
help of the German radar, further information about the 20 to 30
secret satellites in question before beginning serious negotiations
with the United States on a common approach for publishing satellite
orbit information.

"Right now we do not have enough cards in our hand to begin
negotiatons," Blin said here at the Graves radar transmitter site June
7. "We need more time to be sure of what we are seeing. At that point
we can tell our American friends, 'We have seen some things that you
might wish to keep out of the public domain. We will agree to do this
if you agree to stop publishing the location of our sensitive
satellites."

  #2  
Old June 9th 07, 01:59 PM posted to sci.space.policy
BradGuth
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Posts: 21,544
Default GRAVES development

On Jun 8, 11:54 am, Allen Thomson wrote:
"Right now we do not have enough cards in our hand to begin
negotiatons," Blin said here at the Graves radar transmitter site June
7. "We need more time to be sure of what we are seeing. At that point
we can tell our American friends, 'We have seen some things that you
might wish to keep out of the public domain. We will agree to do this
if you agree to stop publishing the location of our sensitive
satellites."


But the US and Russian Zionist don't like France (never did).

You should publish all that you can about those American and Russian
spy satellites, or perhaps shoot them down while over French air
space.

Either that, or perhaps a good laser cannon shot might accomplish the
task of putting those pesky items out of operation.
-
Brad Guth
-
"whoever controls the past, controls the future" / George Orwell

 




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