Images of the Minotaur 1 upper stage shot by the experimental satellite system-11 (XSS-11) spacecraft during its recent rendezvous and proximity operations with the resident space object have been publicly released.
The 220-pound micro satellite developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., has approached its launch vehicle at various distances between 1.5 kilometres and 500 metres.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate has released images taken in orbit by its the Experimental Satellite System (XSS)-11 microsatellite.
The images show more than 75 successful autonomous rendezvous with an orbiting Minotaur I launch vehicle upper stage at distances between 1.5km and 500m, since its April 2005 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The XSS-11 is designed to investigate a variety of prospective space applications, including servicing, repair and resupply as well as some suspect `military usage`.
"XSS-11 is a demonstration in space rendezvous and proximity operations. The craft has an onboard rendezvous and proximity operations planner to aid in developing autonomous operations for future concepts and missions" - Harold Baker, XSS-11 programme manager.
The XSS-11 does not rely on navigation aids from other resident space objects or docking mechanisms. With lower-than-expected fuel consumption, it should operate until the third quarter of 2006.
The Washington Times has an article about the recent satellite launched by the U.S. that has put a communication jammer in space that will allow the US to disrupt enemy communication systems at will.
On Sept. 24, 2004, the 76th Space Control Squadron demonstrated Initial Operational Capability of its first Counter Communications System. This system provides a critical counterspace capability never before available to warfighters around the world.
The U.S. military has experimented with a range of "anti-satellite" (ASAT) weapons, including lasers, to knock out enemy craft by destroying them or damaging their sensors.
The U.S. military is bracing for future attacks in space, and the Air Force has deployed an electronic-warfare unit capable of jamming enemy satellites.
"You can't go to war and win without space" - Gen. Lance Lord, the four-star general in charge of the Colorado-based Air Force Space Command. Gen. Lord said in an interview with The Washington Times that his command plays a key role in monitoring space, protecting satellites from attack or disruption and preparing to carry out strikes on enemy spacecraft. He also said the United States has a major strategic advantage over other nations' militaries because of its satellite communications and intelligence capabilities. "So we've got to protect that advantage".
"We're not talking about weaponising space. We're not talking about massive satellite attacks coming over the horizon or anything like that. This is really a way to understand space situational awareness, who's out there, who's operating. We understand that" - Gen. Lord.
The top priorities of the space command are monitoring space and knowing the threats. Two other missions are defending satellites and conducting offensive operations against enemy spacecraft or ground signals that threaten U.S. satellites.
"We understand that jamming has gone on and other things have occurred, and we watch that very closely" - Gen. Lord.
He declined to identify specific nations that are working on anti-satellite weapons. Other defence officials said China is a key worry as far as space warfare, partly because it has tested electronic signal jamming against satellites.
"We watch China. They've had 45 successful launches since 1996. They will be a very robust and potent competitor in the future, and we want to make sure we understand who they are and how they're emerging in this business. They look at us; we look at them" - one official said.
Russia also in the past has deployed anti-satellite weapons and is developing anti-satellite jamming weapons. Gen. Lord dismissed assertions by critics that the Air Force's plans to use small spacecraft for maintenance could include using the craft as anti-satellite ramming devices.
"Anytime you have a satellite out there, if you run it into something else, you've got that kind of capability. That is not what we're doing" - Gen. Lord.
Instead, offensive anti-satellite weapons currently are limited to "countercommunications" operations -- interrupting the signals sent from the ground to satellites that try to disrupt U.S. military or civilian spacecraft. The 76th Space Control Squadron, based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, last year deployed the first offensive countercommunications system that uses mobile teams that can fire electronic jamming gear capable of knocking out enemy satellite communications.
"If somebody is trying to use space against us, we could interrupt, in a reversible kind of way, those kind of capabilities as needed and as directed by U.S. policy" - Gen. Lord.
The XXS-11 was launched in April 2005. The XSS-11 is part of an experimental series. There was a satellite launched a few years ago, the XSS-10, which is the predecessor of microsatellites. Microsatellites are something that weighs less than 100 kilograms. They are still big, but they are smaller than a lot of current satellites that weigh in the many tons. The idea behind this program was to establish that a microsatellite could be launched and it could control itself in manoeuvring around a larger satellite. the XSS-11 can manoeuvre around another satellite because it has fuel and little thrusters and it can actually move in close to a satellite, it can also be used as a weapon. It could use its thrusters to simply run into another satellite in orbit and use kinetic energy to damage it. Or it could carry an explosive payload or an IRF, or radio frequency, jammer onboard.
Citing "operational security" concerns, military officials declined to discuss how the jammer worked but equated it with traditional Air Force electronic warfare weapons that have been used since World War 2 to deceive, disrupt, deny, degrade or destroy targets.
"Our role is to anticipate threats to U.S. control of space, and to develop ways both to protect our space assets and to deny an adversary his own access to space" - Col. Robert Ryals, deputy commander of the centre.
"All you need is a spectrum analyzer, a signal generator, a satellite transmit-and-receive terminal, a computer with a couple of modems, and 200 lines of software-and you can effectively jam a satellite signal. A lot of commanders are surprised when we replicate the satellite-jamming threat for their exercises, or show them the excellent resolution of the satellite imagery now available to anyone with a credit card. That's why we, as Aggressors, need to constantly remind people that our dependence on space systems is growing" - Lt. Col. Conrad Widman, commander of the Space Aggressors.
An experimental satellite designed to test autonomous technologies by rendezvousing with space debris and defunct spacecraft was launched aboard a Pegasus booster on Monday 11th April 2005.
It took off from Space Launch Complex 8 on the southern edge of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 1335 (26-minute window) GMT. The Experimental Satellite System-11 (XSS-11) spacecraft will perform six or seven encounters with in-space objects over its 12-to-18 month mission.