Chinese ASAT (Anti-SATelitte) Tests
Over the past 10 years, in tandem with a booming economy, China’s military forces have undergone considerable improvement and, overtly and sometimes covertly, they have adopted an increasingly more belligerent attitude towards Taiwan and its guarantor of military security – the USA. It has recently been revealed that China has secretly fired a powerful laser at overflying US spy satellites, with the various Keyhole satellites coming under attack several times in recent years. Exactly what China is aiming to achieve by this activity is difficult to determine, but the general consensus is that the Chinese are simply demonstrating to the US that they have the capability to track and either blind or even destroy over-flying satellites. A vast amount of power is required to shoot a laser beam through the earth’s dense lower atmosphere, whilst retaining sufficient energy to ‘blind’ an over-flying satellite, in addition, the laser also has to be linked a sophisticated tracking system capable of continuously pointing the laser in the right direction – no mean undertaking.