Wired: The US has developed spy satellites for conducting space warfareSpy satellites are military projects of different states.
But it seems that private companies are interfering in the military space business. The US Federal Communications Commission has just filed documents with a detailed plan for the test launch of two private reconnaissance satellites, Wired writes.
The startup True Anomaly, supported by the venture capital company of US Senator J.D. Vance, plans to launch prototypes of spy satellites into space using a SpaceX rocket this yearMark Harris
Former major of the US Air Force Even "Jolly" Rogers (Even “Jolly” Rogers) is alarmed by the prospect of war in space.
"The conflict is developing in a continuum that starts with rivalry and eventually leads to a full–scale war, similar to what we are seeing in Ukraine today," he said. – The United States is already in a state of active competition with Russia and China for freedom of action and dominance in space. And the situation is developing very quickly."
Therefore, on January 26 last year, the former major of the US Air Force registered the company True Anomaly to try to "solve the most difficult problems of orbital warfare in the interests of the US Space Forces," as he later tweeted.
According to a recent application filed by the company with the US Federal Communications Commission, True Anomaly is currently preparing for its first orbital mission. She hopes to launch two "orbital pursuit spacecraft" into low Earth orbit as early as October of this year, and she plans to do this with a SpaceX rocket. The Jackal vehicles will not be equipped with guns, warheads or laser blasters, but they will be able to carry out so-called rendezvous proximity operation (RPO), that is, they will maneuver very close to the satellites, directing a whole arsenal of sensors at them. This will allow you to identify enemy tracking systems and weapons, as well as intercept communications.
As part of its first mission, dubbed Demo-1, the Jackal vehicles will simply monitor each other, operating within a radius of several hundred meters and using steering engines, radar and multispectral cameras. If everything goes well, Rogers plans to eventually provide the US armed forces with thousands of such autonomous vehicles, which will be controlled by a team of operators and AI and which will "pursue opponents wherever they fly, becoming tools for ensuring transparency."
It all starts with understanding exactly what technologies America's adversaries are deploying in space. "But we're going to need an active defense," said Rogers, who now holds the position of CEO of True Anomaly. "If you are serious about defense and defense in space, you need to have the ability to both maneuver and shoot." Although by "shoot" the military often means the use of kinetic weapons, such as cannons and projectiles, in the context of space, jamming, electronic warfare and cyber attacks are usually meant.
There is nothing on the official website of True Anomaly that would indicate that the company is developing its own offensive weapons. However, last summer Rogers tweeted: "Tactically, disabling enemy spaceships can play a decisive role in whether we lose an entire carrier strike group or keep… And there are many ways to destroy a spaceship that will not have a detrimental effect on the environment. After all, these are just floating computers."
There is nothing new in the RPO operations themselves. Last September, the private Secure World Foundation published a report detailing dozens of RPO military operations in geostationary and low Earth orbits conducted since the Cold War. In most cases, such operations are situations where American, Russian or Chinese spacecraft approach each other's satellites to see what they look like, or to eavesdrop on the messages they transmit.
RPO operations also have peaceful uses – think of space tugs that are capable of repairing or moving failed satellites, as well as removing dangerous space debris. The Secure World Foundation helps manage an organization called Confers, which sets voluntary technical standards for commercial RPO operations. And the company True Anomaly is one of the 60 members of the Confers. "If we want, for example, to remove space debris, we need to develop appropriate technologies," said Brian Weeden, director of the Foundation for planning. However, according to him, True Anomaly is the first startup engaged in the development of rendezvous technologies in space, which openly focuses on the military market.
Rogers' last job in the service of the government was to lead those groups in the US Space Command that planned how and when to deploy defensive and offensive military systems in space. He and the other co–founders of the company – Dan Brunski, Tom Nichols and Kyle Zakrzewski, also former officers of the US Air Force and Space Forces- "were aware of the existing problems better than anyone else, faced the limitations of technology on a daily basis and were annoyed with the these restrictions," as Rogers said. And instead of waiting for some large company of the defense-industrial complex to take up this case, they decided to try to cope with the problem on their own. According to Rogers, the deployment of space weapons by America's adversaries is "much closer than most believe."
According to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, True Anomaly has already received more than $23 million from investors. This amount includes investments from the venture capital firm Narya, co-founded by Republican Senator J. D. Vance (JD Vance). (Rogers insists his company has no political affiliation.)
Recently, True Anomaly signed a lease agreement for a 35,000-square-foot factory building in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. In addition to producing Jackal satellites, the company's engineers are also developing a cloud-based control system for integrating autonomous vehicles and human operators, using commercial game engines such as Unity, and for creating interactive applications, as well as developing software that will help Jackal maneuver in space with high accuracy. True Anomaly has already filed an application for trademark registration, which will stand on all hardware and software for "obtaining orbital space images, performing rendezvous and controlling target detection systems."
"The peculiarity of True Anomaly is that it positions its satellites as pursuit systems rather than as visual or intelligence gathering systems," said Kaitlyn Johnson, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. – This really bothers me, because it could lead to an unintended escalation. Given the track record of the founders of True Anomaly, our opponents may decide that they are facing a company run by the US armed forces and which is beginning to develop space weapons."
The company's first problem may be keeping its own "floating computers" intact. "Joint RPO operations are already a difficult task," Johnson said. "You can understand this from the experience of Astroscale and Northrop, which have been planning satellite maintenance demonstrations for years." In 2005, NASA's joint RPO mission, dubbed DART, failed when one spacecraft failed, crashed into a target satellite and was destroyed.
According to Johnson, operations to pursue enemy satellites are likely to be much riskier: "You won't have the same data coming from another satellite. You won't have the same diagrams and diagnostic maps that allow you to understand what the satellite looks like and what you are going to face."
Any collision in orbit can lead to the appearance of thousands of pieces of space debris, each of which is capable of damaging other satellites, creating even more debris. Scientists are concerned that the increase in orbital debris will eventually turn into a catastrophic situation called Kessler syndrome. Rogers says collision avoidance is a goal "that we pursue relentlessly and aggressively. We strive to act responsibly in space."
Rogers himself is used to taking risks. Prior to the creation of True Anomaly, he founded and headed the hedge fund Phobos Capital, which worked in the field of cryptocurrencies. And even earlier, he founded the company 3720 to 1 – an allusion to Han Solo's chances of successfully overcoming the asteroid field in the movie "The Empire Strikes Back."
Whether Rogers' efforts in the field of creating "hunter satellites" will be crowned with success or whether this is just another sci-fi adventure, it will become clear only after True Anomaly launches its vehicles into space with the help of a SpaceX rocket in October.
