U.S. Deploys Satellite Jamming System

[DuctapeFatwa]

The U.S. Air Force quietly has put into service a new weapon designed to jam enemy satellite communications, a significant step toward U.S. control of space....declared operational late last month at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs..The ground-based jammer uses electromagnetic radio frequency energy to knock out transmissions on a temporary and reversible basis, without frying components, the command said.


"A reversible effect ensures that during the time of need, the adversary's space-based capability to threaten our forces is diminished," said Capt. Angie Blair, a spokeswoman. "Following the time of need, the space-based capabilities used by the adversary can return to its original state." The device appears to have been put into service considerably earlier than had been projected by the Air Force as recently as February.

U.S. military control of space is one of four missions spelled out under a national space policy adopted by former president Bill Clinton (news - web sites) in 1996.

"Unfortunately, it seems we are not going to limit our quest for 'space control' to benign systems," she said, citing the danger of a space arms race....Citing "operational security" concerns, military officials declined to discuss how the jammer worked...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=4&u=/nm/20041031/sc_nm/arms_satellite_usa_dc

[thecrow]

1. Could this also be used to foul up the election?

Hmmmm?
I suppose I am wrapped in tinfoil here, but the line about it being deployed EARLIER than projected (February) caught my eye.
Couldn't this disrupt sattelites that broadcast news, election results, etc?
Seems if it can be used against other nations, why not our own as well?
Then after the desired effect is achieved, all systems would revert to normal "without a trace".
Could it be used to jam airline's systems as well?

This is something that would be VERY hard to trace and if it were used in the elections to foul up the vote transmission or to take *certain* planes down and then be reversed.
Would we ever know the truth?
This system sounds like one that could be very dangerous in the hands of a madman cough:cheney:cough.
Maybe I'd better go buy some super heavy duty foil for this week.

:tinfoilhat:

[UL_Approved]

2. Its easy to do this

Blocking satellite transmissions to and from ground-based installations is not difficult. Power levels to space are virtually unaffected, but the return path is gone. They have to use parabolic dishes because the signals are so weak after they make the journey back to Earth. Jamming has been possible for years, and a study in microwave theory combined with a good hackers website can allow a person to make their own jammer, especially a temporary one. I don't know what to say about usage, but the system itself is not to surprising.

[LastDemocratInSC]

3. The Space Shuttle was designed, in part, for stealing satellites in orbit

A satellite jamming system seems almost timid compared to one of the original purposes of the Space Shuttle.

NASA wanted a much smaller and more agile orbiter. Because the shuttle was a joing NASA/DOD project, the military pushed for the much larger, less agile current design. The military wanted the ability to launch a shuttle into polar orbit from Vandenberg AFB in California, steal a satellite and return to Earth in a one orbit flight, returning to the launch site at Vandenberg within 90-minutes. The Russians would not even know the satellite was missing until they tried to contact it on the next orbit. This would have been used only during periods of national crisis and only against those Russian satellites considered a threat to our national security.

During those years the Russians had developed spy satellites similar to ours - essentially telescopes that looked down instead of up - small versions of the Hubble telescope, if you will. The size and mass of these satellites was known, so that dictated the minimum size of the shuttle's payload bay and the weight that the shuttle would be required to carry back to Earth for a landing. The requirement to land within one orbit of launch required that the shuttle have its familiar large delta wing instead of the thinner, smaller fighter-plane wing favored by NASA. The Earth would have rotated 1100 miles during the 90-minute flight, so the large wing would provide the ability to glide 1100 miles east during re-entry.

Temporarily jamming a satellite's electronics seems polite compared to our earlier aims. It must be part of a more sensitive military posture, I suppose. Just stealing the satellite outright sounds so crude today - such a nineties idea.

More is available at http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/ch5.htm

[Moderator]

4. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=944594