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Indian ASAT
http://www.zeenews.com/news592334.html 'India readying weapon to destroy enemy satellites' Updated on Sunday, January 03, 2010, 16:25 IST Thiruvananthapuram: Indian defence scientists are readying a weapons system to neutralise enemy satellites operating in low-earth orbit, a top defence scientist said here on Sunday. "India is putting together building blocks of technology that could be used to neutralise enemy satellites," Defence Research and Development Organisation Director General VK Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress. However, he added that the defence scientists have not planned any tests but have started planning such technology which could be used to leapfrog to build a weapon in case the country needed it. Saraswat, who is also the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, said the scientists were planning to build the weapon which would have the capacity to hit and destroy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit. Usually, satellites in such orbits are used for network centric warfare and neutralising such spacecraft would deny enemy access to its space assets. "We are working to ensure space security and protect our satellites. At the same time we are also working on how to deny the enemy access to its space assets," he said. To achieve such capabilities, a kill vehicle needs to be developed and that process is being carried out under the Ballistic Missile Defence programme. "Basically, these are deterrence technologies and quite certainly many of these technologies will not be used. I hope they are not used," Saraswat said. In January 2007, China had demonstrated its capability to destroy satellites by conducting an anti-satellite test. It had launched a missile that blew to smithereens an ageing weather satellite Fengyun 1C orbiting at a distance of 500 miles away from the earth. Saraswat said the DRDO is building an advanced version of its interceptor missile with a range of 120-140 km. The missile interceptor is expected to be test fired in September. Space security is going to be a major issue in the future and India should not be left behind in this area, the defence scientist said. PTI |
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Indian ASAT
Allen Thomson wrote:
Note the part about lasers for imaging satellites. That's pretty clever; using the same technique as a laser-guided bomb against a satellite. I was going to say you would have weather constraints regarding being able to illuminate it with the laser from the ground, but the laser could be put into a jet aircraft as well, and illuminate it from high altitude, above the clouds. Pat |
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Indian ASAT
On Jan 5, 10:50*am, Pat Flannery wrote:
That's pretty clever; using the same technique as a laser-guided bomb against a satellite. I'm not sure what they're talking about, but terrestrially-based semi- active guidance is certainly a possibility. The thing about ASAT is that there are so many ways to do it. |
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Indian ASAT
Allen Thomson wrote:
On Jan 5, 10:50 am, Pat Flannery wrote: That's pretty clever; using the same technique as a laser-guided bomb against a satellite. I'm not sure what they're talking about, but terrestrially-based semi- active guidance is certainly a possibility. The thing about ASAT is that there are so many ways to do it. The way I read it, the laser will hit the target satellite while its in the the shadow of the Earth, then the ASAT will be launched and home in on the laser light reflected off of it. This should be a very workable system, as if all you want to do is light up the satellite with a laser rather than damage it, your laser beam can be of fairly low power. As far as countermeasures to this system, the satellite could either eject reflective decoys and hope the ASAT would home on one of those, or shoot out some sort of gas or dust cloud that would get between it and the ASAT (or between it and the laser) so the reflected laser light couldn't be seen or is diffused enough so the ASAT can't home on it. Also, if the satellite is equipped with laser detectors (I'm fairly sure our reconsats are after the Soviet attempts to blind their optics with lasers) it could fire thrusters and move, so as to make the laser lose its tracking lock on it. Pat |
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Indian ASAT
Pat Flannery wrote:
The way I read it, the laser will hit the target satellite while its in the the shadow of the Earth, then the ASAT will be launched and home in on the laser light reflected off of it. That gives your adversary O(12) hours of passes before nightfall doesn't it (a bit of handwaving)? India does have a non-trivial Navy and can project power via it, but I don't think anyone is asserting they are yet a "global" Navy, so one would presume this is going to be something happening over Indian (controlled) territory. This should be a very workable system, as if all you want to do is light up the satellite with a laser rather than damage it, your laser beam can be of fairly low power. As far as countermeasures to this system, the satellite could either eject reflective decoys and hope the ASAT would home on one of those, or shoot out some sort of gas or dust cloud that would get between it and the ASAT (or between it and the laser) so the reflected laser light couldn't be seen or is diffused enough so the ASAT can't home on it. A satellite surrounded by a cloud of dust isn't generally going to be very useful will it? Also, if the satellite is equipped with laser detectors (I'm fairly sure our reconsats are after the Soviet attempts to blind their optics with lasers) it could fire thrusters and move, so as to make the laser lose its tracking lock on it. Changing the orbit of the opponent's satellite isn't quite as good as destroying or disabling it, but it still is at least a slight "win" yes? rick jones -- firebug n, the idiot who tosses a lit cigarette out his car window these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH... |
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Indian ASAT
In message tatelephone
Pat Flannery wrote: Rick Jones wrote: As far as countermeasures to this system, the satellite could either eject reflective decoys and hope the ASAT would home on one of those, or shoot out some sort of gas or dust cloud that would get between it and the ASAT (or between it and the laser) so the reflected laser light couldn't be seen or is diffused enough so the ASAT can't home on it. A satellite surrounded by a cloud of dust isn't generally going to be very useful will it? After the intercept is thwarted, the satellite could fire its thrusters to maneuver free of its dust cloud or decoys. So on its first pass over an area of interest the satellite gets illuminated by the targetting laser and ejects countermeasures. No interceptor gets launched. Next pass same happens. Third pass no countermeasures left (just how many decoys and bags of dust are you going to include in your payload?) and kablooie. The target can't wait for signs of an interceptor launch before deploying the countermeasures if it wants them to disperse far enough to be effective. Anthony |
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Indian ASAT
Rick Jones wrote:
That gives your adversary O(12) hours of passes before nightfall doesn't it (a bit of handwaving)? India does have a non-trivial Navy and can project power via it, but I don't think anyone is asserting they are yet a "global" Navy, so one would presume this is going to be something happening over Indian (controlled) territory. I assume you figure out what the satellite is and what it's up to before you consider shooting it down, so a time delay of a day or two would be expected after it is launched. I suspect that the system would originally be designed to destroy the satellite while it's over Indian territory, using a direct ascent interceptor vehicle, unless they intend to mount both the laser and homing interceptor on a ship, which certainly could be done, although it probably would be more complex and time consuming to develop. In fact, you would get better target illumination if the laser and launch point of the interceptor missile were close together, as the beam would be reflected more directly back towards at the ascending interceptor missile's homing head. This should be a very workable system, as if all you want to do is light up the satellite with a laser rather than damage it, your laser beam can be of fairly low power. As far as countermeasures to this system, the satellite could either eject reflective decoys and hope the ASAT would home on one of those, or shoot out some sort of gas or dust cloud that would get between it and the ASAT (or between it and the laser) so the reflected laser light couldn't be seen or is diffused enough so the ASAT can't home on it. A satellite surrounded by a cloud of dust isn't generally going to be very useful will it? After the intercept is thwarted, the satellite could fire its thrusters to maneuver free of its dust cloud or decoys. Also, if the satellite is equipped with laser detectors (I'm fairly sure our reconsats are after the Soviet attempts to blind their optics with lasers) it could fire thrusters and move, so as to make the laser lose its tracking lock on it. Changing the orbit of the opponent's satellite isn't quite as good as destroying or disabling it, but it still is at least a slight "win" yes? If it's a reconsat, it then means both the owner and the country its targeted on have to re-figure its orbit to determine when and where it will pass overhead in the future... unless it just fires it thrusters again to put it back into its original orbit. Apparently, China has used a ground-based laser to blind one of our reconsats already: http://defensetech.org/2006/09/25/ch...r-vs-u-s-sats/ Pat |
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