AUSTRALIA’S space command, a branch of the Royal Australian Air Force, revealed it is working on a plan to acquire the so-called “soft kill” technology to destroy enemy satellites without creating dangerous space debris.
As the world’s biggest players in the space industry race to upgrade their military capabilities, the Australian Defense Force pressed the need to secure “non-destructive” technologies to deter attacks or interfere with enemy satellites to protect Australia’s assets in space.
Australia’s Defense Space Command was established in January 2022, to achieve the country’s strategic space ambitions and lead the effort to assure access to space.
Speaking at The Avalon Air Show, the head of Australia’s Defense Space Command, Air Vice Marshall Cath Roberts said they are working on a level of capability to deter attacks on the country’s satellites, essentially through non-kinetic means.
Instead of using missiles, Australia plans to develop its own electronic warfare that is capable to disrupt and disable satellites, although the appropriate technology is not yet commercially available.
“We are working on making sure that we’ve got a level of capability so that we can deter attacks on our satellites, essentially through non-kinetic means so that we can have some impact,” said Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts, Inaugural Defense Space Commander.
A few days later, James Brown, the CEO of the Space Industry Association of Australia, warned of increasing surveillance “by Chinese satellites that are only 100 to 200 kilometers above our heads, and with China launching hundreds of them a year.”
“I think people just do not realize that every day we are being listened to and surveyed by Chinese satellites that are only 100 to 200 kilometers above our heads, and China is launching hundreds of them a year and we are seeing more and more of that activity,” James Brown, CEO, Space Industry Association of Australia.
Australia’s space industry made the warning after a Chinese-operated high-altitude balloon spotted in North American Airspace in late January triggered a diplomatic row between Beijing and Washington.
The term space race refers to the informal competition between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975, but over the years, more and more countries eventually jumped on the bandwagon as they recognized the importance of weaponizing outer space.
