ORAC
20th Aug 2020, 07:33
Now, about the UK and OneWeb......
Nite rptha5bthey expect to have 1000 in orbit by the end of 2022. About the only company I see capable of ramping up to launch that number of, I presume, cubesats by then in SpaceX...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mini-satellite-fleet-to-counter-russias-hypersonic-missiles-9kn23wjqx
Mini-satellite fleet to counter Russia’s hypersonic missiles
The United States and Japan are working together to develop a network of small, low-orbit satellites to track superfast missiles being built by Russia and China.
The Pentagon’s space development agency hopes to have a fleet of more than 1,000 mini-satellites in orbit by 2022. The hypersonic missiles they are designed to monitor can travel at more than five times the speed of sound and possibly reach Mach 20 — 20 times the speed of sound, or 15,000mph — to penetrate existing anti-missile defences.
Russia is the only country that already has them in service. The nuclear-capable Avangard missile became operational last year, with President Putin (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/security-service-ignored-warnings-about-putin-threat-f2zlntxrz) saying that it gave Moscow a global advantage.
Japan’s involvement in the satellite tracking scheme underlines the perceived threat posed to the Indo-China region by the hypersonic systems being developed by Beijing. There are concerns, too, about North Korea, which is believed to be developing missiles that can change trajectory mid-flight, making them far more difficult to detect and track with America’s existing high-altitude satellites.
Japan is expected to provide sensor technology for the $9 billion programme, according to the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei. The plan, it said, is to deploy multiple satellites at altitudes between about 200 miles and 600 miles, with Tokyo monitoring threats against the Japanese archipelago.
“The threat from China is increasing rapidly now and so it is very natural for Japan to increase its capabilities and co-operation with the United States,” Takashi Kawakami, head of the Institute of World Studies at Takushoku University, told The Times.
The low-orbit satellite system will be able to track the movements of Chinese warships around the disputed Senkaku islands and elsewhere in the East and South China seas, where Beijing has increased its military activities in recent years.......
Vice-Admiral Jon Hill, director of the US missile defence agency, said earlier this year that it was vital to design new sensor systems to detect and track hypersonic weapons being built by China (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/future-is-hypersonic-xi-shows-off-nuclear-missile-that-can-breach-shields-w93sxmfz0) and Russia. “You have to be able track them worldwide,” he said.
Hypersonic weapons looked at first like ballistic missiles but “then turned into something else”, he added. “You have to be able to track that.”
Nite rptha5bthey expect to have 1000 in orbit by the end of 2022. About the only company I see capable of ramping up to launch that number of, I presume, cubesats by then in SpaceX...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mini-satellite-fleet-to-counter-russias-hypersonic-missiles-9kn23wjqx
Mini-satellite fleet to counter Russia’s hypersonic missiles
The United States and Japan are working together to develop a network of small, low-orbit satellites to track superfast missiles being built by Russia and China.
The Pentagon’s space development agency hopes to have a fleet of more than 1,000 mini-satellites in orbit by 2022. The hypersonic missiles they are designed to monitor can travel at more than five times the speed of sound and possibly reach Mach 20 — 20 times the speed of sound, or 15,000mph — to penetrate existing anti-missile defences.
Russia is the only country that already has them in service. The nuclear-capable Avangard missile became operational last year, with President Putin (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/security-service-ignored-warnings-about-putin-threat-f2zlntxrz) saying that it gave Moscow a global advantage.
Japan’s involvement in the satellite tracking scheme underlines the perceived threat posed to the Indo-China region by the hypersonic systems being developed by Beijing. There are concerns, too, about North Korea, which is believed to be developing missiles that can change trajectory mid-flight, making them far more difficult to detect and track with America’s existing high-altitude satellites.
Japan is expected to provide sensor technology for the $9 billion programme, according to the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei. The plan, it said, is to deploy multiple satellites at altitudes between about 200 miles and 600 miles, with Tokyo monitoring threats against the Japanese archipelago.
“The threat from China is increasing rapidly now and so it is very natural for Japan to increase its capabilities and co-operation with the United States,” Takashi Kawakami, head of the Institute of World Studies at Takushoku University, told The Times.
The low-orbit satellite system will be able to track the movements of Chinese warships around the disputed Senkaku islands and elsewhere in the East and South China seas, where Beijing has increased its military activities in recent years.......
Vice-Admiral Jon Hill, director of the US missile defence agency, said earlier this year that it was vital to design new sensor systems to detect and track hypersonic weapons being built by China (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/future-is-hypersonic-xi-shows-off-nuclear-missile-that-can-breach-shields-w93sxmfz0) and Russia. “You have to be able track them worldwide,” he said.
Hypersonic weapons looked at first like ballistic missiles but “then turned into something else”, he added. “You have to be able to track that.”