World News | Australian space industry warns against China satellite surveillance

sydney [Australia]March 6, (ANI): The Australian space industry has issued a warning about China’s satellite surveillance, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

Australia’s Defense Space Command has said it is developing a plan to acquire so-called soft-kill technologies to neutralize enemy satellites, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

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In February, the US blew up a giant Chinese balloon it claimed was spying on key military bases across the US. China, however, claimed the plane had strayed off course and was a civilian aircraft.

The diplomatic spat sparked discussions between the two about espionage and surveillance.

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A Voice of America (VOA) report said Australian experts believed the balloon incident overshadowed concerns about satellite espionage.

According to Voice of America (VOA), James Brown, head of the trade group for the Australian Aerospace Industries Association, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday that China has a large space monitoring system.

As China launched more satellites than the United States last year, the number of satellites in space has more than doubled to about 8,000, Roberts said, according to Voice of America (VOA).

“I think people just don’t realize that we’re being listened to and watched every day by Chinese satellites that are only 100 to 200 kilometers above our heads, and China launches hundreds of them every year, and we’re seeing more and more activity,” Voice of America ( VOA) quoted Brown as saying.

Australia’s one-year-old Defense Space Command is drawing up a plan to buy so-called soft-kill technology to destroy enemy satellites without creating dangerous debris. Instead of using missiles, Australia wants to develop its own electronic warfare capability to jam and disable satellites, but the right technology is not yet commercially available.

The command’s head, Air Force Lieutenant General Cath Roberts, gave an update on electronic warfare capabilities and threats to Australian satellites on Friday. She told reporters that a “non-destructive” capability would be needed to deter attacks or jam enemy satellites. (ANI)

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