Chinese scientists have developed a method for secretly disabling spacecraft. To do this, it is planned to place small explosive charges in the nozzles of their engines. The consequences of triggering these bombs will look like malfunctions of the engines themselves, according to an article published by Professor Sun Yongzhong from the Polytechnic Institute of Defense Industry. Excerpts of the work are cited by the South China Morning Post.
The "infernal machine" is placed in the narrowest place of the nozzle and can remain inactive for a long time. It is activated by an electronic command. If necessary, the bomb is capable of undocking itself with the object on which it was installed.
The prototype of the device has been successfully tested on the ground. The project is being funded as part of a program to create new types of warheads for missiles.
In 2007, China conducted tests of anti-satellite weapons, destroying a disabled meteorological satellite. Ground-based complexes have also been developed that can shoot down or damage a comic device with a laser beam. But these methods are noticeable. While a 3.5-kilogram bomb is secretly attached to a satellite in near-Earth space, and when triggered, it damages its orientation systems in space and internal equipment, leaving the outer shell intact.
Anton Valagin
