Steering abilityĮnter the high-altitude “objects” that have been shot down over the US. In 2020, the country launched, to a 600km orbit, three new reconnaissance (spy) satellites from the Yaogan-30 series, as part of a wider network, or “constellation”, called Chuangxin-5 (CX-5), bringing the number of satellites in the network to 21. There will be large gaps in a 24-hour period when collection is not possible – a silent time.Ĭhina has attempted to close the gaps. This is making sigint collection by both Chinese and Russian spy satellites difficult. The US military has been developing signals – electronic data transmissions – with a low probability of intercept. But, because it is positioned at around 36,000km from the Earth’s surface, it could miss the collection of important but weak signals. In theory, a geostationary satellite could have a permanent dwell time.
This is because our planet is also moving.Įven then, it will only be visible to a point on Earth for a maximum of 20 minutes which is called its “dwell time.” Increasing the number of satellites helps, but there will still be large time gaps in coverage. Photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler ThompsonĪ satellite in LEO will complete an orbit around the Earth in 70 to 100 minutes but it will not pass the same point on the Earth again for 14 to 20 hours depending on its altitude. US sailors recovered part of a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, February 5, 2023. Although the collection of this type of intelligence by satellites is efficient and reasonably effective, there are some limitations. Normally, satellites that collect sigint are positioned in low-Earth orbit (LEO) – say at 500 to 1,000km altitude – or at geostationary orbit, at the much higher altitude of 36,000 kilometers. Sigint is normally collected by satellites, but can also be gathered from aircraft flying in international airspace. Signals intelligence, or “sigint”, refers to electronic data, which could consist of conversations, written messages or data from weapons or radar systems. Debris has now been retrieved from US territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina and will be transported ashore for analysis.Ī further three objects were downed between February 10 and 12 over Deadhorse in Alaska, near Yukon in Canada and over Lake Huron close to the US-Canada border. The Chinese balloon is believed to have supported a signals intelligence collection payload, although this has yet to be confirmed. A knowledge of technology in this area throws up some clues about what may have been going on. While China says it was for weather monitoring, US officials say it was being used for surveillance.
The first of these objects, a Chinese balloon, was downed by a fighter jet on February 4.
The US military has now shot down four high-altitude objects that had entered American and Canadian airspace, raising questions about their purpose and origin. New tech gives old spy balloons reason to stay afloat – Asia Times Close Search for:
0 kommentar(er)
