China’s anti-satellite weapon test earlier this year was a “strategically dislocating event,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley last week, who warned that any such attack on U.S. satellites would be an act of war.
“I would say killing another nation's satellite is an act of war,” Moseley told reporters. “It's no different than sinking a ship or killing an airplane. To be able then to hold an entire constellation at risk, now it creates a whole different set of strategic and operational level challenges.”
Moseley called the January test significant because China demonstrated the capability to kill satellites in low-Earth orbit and will be able to extend the capability easily to higher-orbit systems.
“The difference in a LEO bird and GEO bird is a physics problem,” Moseley said. “It's an energy problem and it's a physics problem. If you can hit something at 500-plus miles in orbit then you can certainly hit something out beyond 20,000 miles. It's just a physics problem.”
Moseley said significant military photographic satellites and commercial satellites are located at around 500 miles in the atmosphere. “So it's a significant risk to both civilian commercial systems and military systems. And not just U.S. military systems, but others,” he said.
Moseley said China's mobile launchers are significant because it will be harder for U.S. counter-ASAT efforts to target and attack the launchers. “If you are attempting to negate shots on your satellite systems, mobile systems are harder to find,” he said.
“A mobile system is in fact mobile so it can be deployed out of country, it can be deployed out into other theaters. And it can be exported and sold,” he said.
