Many stories recently indicate that China has been prepping for space warfare. A Chinese rocket that reentered the atmosphere was launched on June 23, 2022, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, China. Technically, it can be called a weapon of war as it was used to deploy satellites that would give them an advantage in an invasion of Taiwan. Recently, China used green lasers fired from satellites to gather intelligence for a surprise hypersonic missile attack on Hawaii. Competition between the United States and China will almost certainly drive the militarization of space. Tonight on Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis talks with author and former Air Force Intel officer, Walter Bosley about SINO STAR WARS.
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Science Fiction has always been a passion of mine. From the time I was old enough to understand it, I was reading comic books and I read Asimov’s science fiction series Foundation when I was in the sixth grade. In Junior High, I was reading Bradbury, then Philip K. Dick, Orwell, Huxley and H.G. Wells- then more and more authors and more stories.
I also was looking into the history of science fiction and noticed some very old movies that were ahead of their time.
Some of the older science fiction was quite funny.
In 1869, Edward Everett Hale wrote the book, The Brick Moon. It was about an artificial space station made from brick. In 1929, Dr. John Desmond Bernal conceived of the Bernal sphere, a rotating space colony with a diameter of approximately 15 kilometers, filled with air and colonized around the equator, where the rotation of the colony would create centrifugal force to replicate Earth’s gravity.
But as I have said, really good science fiction was conceived during the Cold War undefined and the golden age of science fiction films was arguably in the 1950s and 1960s.
The 1970s was a period of intense concern about natural resource shortages. The dire predictions of Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb and the Club of Rome’s Limits to Growth report, the 1973 and 1979 oil price shocks and the films trans-creating those horrible futures like Z.P.G., Soylent Green, and Logan’s Run, had tilted public opinion considerably.
Harry Stine in his book, The Third Industrial Revolution, advocated that the emerging great business opportunities are in outer space as miners tapped the asteroids for their metals and manufacturing moved into orbit.
The solar system is abundant in solar energy and raw materials, and an orbital environment has many advantages. Pollution is not a concern, and many industrial processes are not feasible in Earth’s atmosphere and gravity become practicable.
It was science fiction that not only spread hope but a lot of paranoia about the future.
But again -with population concerns aside and scarcity being again a matter of future planning undefined it was the space race that gave us movies like The Day The Earth Stood Still, and environmental concerns that gave us Silent Running.
The long-lasting Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1975 was initiated by the launch of the first intercontinental ballistic missile, R-7 Semyorka and after just six weeks, the release of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit by the Soviet Union in October 1957.
It put America into a state of panic. To counterbalance Soviet space programs and regain the confidence of the American people, NASA was established in 1961, and massive funding for space-related projects from the US Government was available. In 1961, US President John Kennedy said that the USA should put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.
This was achieved in 1969, largely putting an end to the Space Race when it was sealed by the first joint USA-USSR mission in July 1975. The USSR and USA were competing to outdo each other in the amazing field of space exploration, ultimately to prove which political system, Communism or Capitalism, was superior.
The Space Race was essentially an extension of the Cold War and thus was intimately connected to military-industrial superiority to be shown to the world. If the Cold War turned hot, intercontinental ballistic missiles and suborbital launch units had to be disabled by spy satellites on the other side.
With all of our so-called advancements in space, from a highly choreographed first moon landing to the SDI star wars plans of Ronald Reagan undefined space has been the new frontier for wonder but it has always been seen through the eyes of the military as an excellent place for warfare.
Some believe that secret space programs continue to this day and that space advancements have been continuing even though the Outer Space treaties provided in 1960s gave us guidelines as to how Earth should conduct its affairs in space.
Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty 1967 provides that: “States bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities”, that is, private parties, and “for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty”.
The prohibition of national appropriation by Article II thus includes appropriation by non-governmental private entities also. The space debris mitigation guidelines promulgated by the United Nations are not binding upon member states of the UN and only a few of the spacefaring nations have implemented them. Remediation or removal of existing space debris is still in its infancy and faces substantial technical, financial, and political hurdles along with major legal issues.
The most prominent issue surrounding the cleanup of orbital space debris rests with Article VIII of the Outer Space Treaty, in which space objects, including non-functioning satellites and other space debris, continue to belong to the country or countries that launched them.
There is no right of salvage as provided in maritime law. Without consent from the nation that launched and operates or otherwise owns the satellite or space object, it cannot be disposed of or be interfered with. This is further complicated by the fact that international space law examines fragments and components from space objects to determine the owner and either individual or blanket consent to remove it from orbit.
I reported last week that China has been very delinquent in their space affairs undefined and for some reason, the world is giving them a pass undefined and it is quite unnerving as there have been many stories recently that indicate that China has been prepping for space warfare undefined and have been very bold in doing so undefined and no one is stopping them.
Of course, the balloon fiasco was a distraction, but the uncontrolled reentry of a rocket over Texas has somehow escaped the mainstream news, The rocket that was launched back in June was used to deploy spy satellites over the south China sea.
It’s not known for certain if any of rocket’s fragments reached the ground, as they may all have burned up during reentry. If any fragments failed to burn up, though, the debris field is believed to be hundreds of miles long, stretching across the state of Texas.
US Space Command confirmed the occurrence and added a comment that the reentry was uncontrolled.
It was confirmed to be a Long March 2D rocket which is a two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle capable of delivering up to 7,700 pounds)= to low-Earth orbit. By this measure, it is roughly comparable to India’s PSLV-XL and European Vega-C.
The rocket that reentered the atmosphere was launched on June 23, 2022, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, China. Technically it can be called a weapon of war as it was used to deploy satellites that would give them an advantage in an invasion of Taiwan.
The rocket carried three Yaogan remote-sensing satellites. One of the primary reconnaissance satellites of the People’s Liberation Army of China, the Yaogan can feature a variety of payloads, from imaging to signals intelligence systems.
China has long been criticized over the uncontrolled reentry of its rocket debris into the atmosphere. Chunks of Chinese heavy-lift rockets such as the Long March 5 – have regularly reached the ground after reentry.
In November 2022, hundreds of flights were disrupted after falling debris caused airspace closures over Southern Europe.
The 2010 International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) ‘Cosmic Study’ on Protecting the Environment of Celestial Bodies goes beyond the interpretation of ‘Planetary Protection’ as biological contamination and extends consideration to the geophysical, industrial and cultural domains. From the perspective of current and future activities in outer space, the study observes that present measures aimed at protecting the space environment are insufficient. Deficiencies include a lack of suitable in-situ methods of chemical and biological detection and the absence of an organized record of radioactive contaminants.
Other issues identified by the Study include an insufficient legal framework, economic tools and political will to address these concerns.
China has developed a technology where they are quite capable of finding dead satellites plucking them out of orbit and chucking them into a space graveyard.
Of course, in order to do that they need to launch satellites to do the job.
Recently a Chinese satellite was observed grabbing another satellite and pulling it out of its normal geosynchronous orbit and into a “super-graveyard drift orbit.”
The maneuver raises questions about the potential applications of these types of satellites designed to maneuver close to other satellites for inspection or manipulation and adds to growing concerns about Chinaundefineds space program overall.
On January 22, China’s Shijian-21 satellite, or SJ-21, disappeared from its regular position in orbit during daylight hours when observations were difficult to make with optical telescopes. SJ-21 was then observed executing a “large maneuver” to bring it closely alongside another satellite, a dead BeiDou Navigation System satellite. SJ-21 then pulled the dead satellite out of its normal geosynchronous orbit and placed it a few hundred miles away in what is known as a graveyard orbit. These distant orbits are designated for defunct satellites at the end of their lives and are intended to reduce the risk of collision with those that are valuable operational assets.
The unusual maneuver was observed by telescopes belonging to the commercial space awareness firm Exoanalytic Solutions. During a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) this week, Exoanalytic Solutions’ Brien Flewelling said the SJ-21 satellite “appears to be functioning as a space tug.” Space Command has been silent on the issue- again it is suspicious that China is making waves in space and we are giving them a pass.
Space Force has been increasingly turning to commercial space companies to provide a variety of data and services to boost its situational awareness, and to that end, Joint Task Force-Space Defense awarded Exoanalytic Solutions a contract in 2021 to provide space domain data.
But the Chinese military researchers have concluded, after studying Russia’s struggles in the Ukraine war as a means to learn lessons for possible future conflict with the United States. They have been secretly preparing possible attacks ob both land, sea and now space.
Chinese military researchers have concluded, China needs the ability to shoot down low-Earth-orbit Starlink satellites and defend its tanks and helicopters against shoulder-fired Javelin missiles.
It appears to be like a giant real-time version of the arcade game Missile Command.
A review of almost 100 articles in more than 20 defense journals has revealed an effort across China’s military-industrial complex to scrutinize the impact of US weapons and technology in Ukraine that could be deployed against Chinese forces in a possible future conflict.
Some of the Chinese journal articles stress Ukraine’s relevance given the risk of a regional conflict that pits Chinese forces against the US and its allies, possibly over Taiwan.
The Chinese-language journals, which reflect the work of hundreds of Chinese researchers across a network of People’s Liberation Army (PLA)-linked universities, state-owned weapons manufacturers and military intelligence think tanks, are far more candid in their assessments of Russian shortcomings in warfare than China’s official position on Moscow’s war, which it has refrained from criticizing.
Some of the Chinese journal articles stress Ukraine’s relevance given the risk of a regional conflict that pits Chinese forces against the US and its allies, possibly over Taiwan.
Half a dozen papers by PLA researchers highlight Chinese concern at the role of Starlink, which is Elon Muskundefineds project that many people have seen in the night sky undefined many reporting it as looking like a giant UFO.
China says that Starlink has been vital in securing the communications of Ukraine’s military amid Russian missile attacks on the country’s power grid.
It is believed that China aims to develop its own similar satellite network – to find ways to shoot down or disable Starlink.
It is not at all surprising that hat Ukrainian special forces operations inside Russia were being studied by China, which, like Russia, moves troops and weapons by rail, making them vulnerable to sabotage.
Recently China used green lasers fired from satellites to gather intelligence for a surprise hypersonic missile attack on Hawaii.
The satellite was recorded flashing lasers for a fraction of a second by a live stream camera attached to a telescope on top of a mountain on one of the islands.
Initially, the lights were thought to come from a NASA satellite before it was finally established it was a Chinese pollution monitoring satellite the Daqi-1.
But questions immediately began to be raised about why the Chinese would feel it necessary to monitor pollution in Hawaii, given the large US military presence there.
This happened weeks after China flew a giant balloon over the US – which was widely understood to be a spy tool even as Beijing claimed it was a civilian weather airship.
Again, the Chinese used a so-called environmental sanitation satellite.
A live stream camera on top of a National Astronomical Observatory of Japan camera atop the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea recorded the footage of the laser in late January. Footage shows green beams dancing and sweeping across the night sky.
Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii remains vital for the United States military and the presence of the satellite comes amid increased tensions between the US and China.
It’s currently home to Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam, a joint US Navy and Air Force facility that’s headquarters to both the United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Air Forces.
Rick Fisher, an expert on China’s military at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the satellite is “a classic case of a Chinese dual use” of civilian technology that also serves military missions.
The Daqi-1’s lasers specifically monitor the density of the atmosphere and can detect different wind directions.
This is precisely the data required for China to accurately target small multiple reentry vehicle nuclear warheads or more recent Hypersonic Glide Vehicle warheads.
HGV warheads seek to exploit low trajectories that are also low altitude and thus are very vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, necessitating the weather data precision that would be available from laser measurements.”
As we ignore these pre-attacks -and China continues to push the limits with its dual-use satellites. Hawaii is at risk of another surprise attack, this time by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Chinese weather satellites that use green lasers can assist in the precise targeting of Hypersonic Glide Vehicle warheads that will be carried by air-launched ballistic missiles launched by Xian H-6N bombers, that can be refueled in order to reach Hawaii.
China has built up a huge arsenal of hypersonic missiles aimed at neutralizing the power of the US Navy – dubbed ‘carrier killers’ – and attacking American facilities in the Pacific.
I would even venture a guess that much of what may be seen as UAP by the military may be a bit of peek-a-boo of what the Chinese are capable of undefined and continue to carry out with any scrutiny from our government.
Is there any reason why this continues unabated?
What is already very clear is that new rules, new protocols and new laws governing the space economy are needed. The general lack of clarity over space-based resources and the ambiguity surrounding the laws that govern space present substantial challenges. Introducing guardrails in mitigating a global space race will be critical to reducing the potential for armed conflict.
Competition between the United States and China will almost certainly drive the militarization of space. This includes space-based applications of artificial intelligence, robotics, drone technologies, telecommunications, quantum computing and nanotechnology. To be sure, the strategic rivalry between the world’s two superpowers could mirror the twentieth-century Cold War in very destructive ways. Competition between the United States and the Soviet Union catalyzed revolutionary advancements in telecommunications, semiconductors, satellite navigation, weather forecasting, rocket technologies and the internet itself. But it also saw trillions of dollars sunk into a global morass of reckless military spending.
Taken as a whole, the very real potential for cold war escalation signals the need for formal oversight in negotiating a normative path forward. As with the Cold War of the last century, confidence-building measures that support scientific exchange and multilateral cooperation will be critical to avoiding the weaponization of space.
China and Russia not only are being seen as getting ahead in finding extra-terrestrial resources, but they are sending out so-called innocent environmental satellites that have dual use for wartime attacks.
Fortunately, this is not the first time that nation-states have been confronted with a new multipolar order impacting global security. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the world’s most powerful countries — the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, China, France, Germany and Japan — oversaw global governance of nuclear weapons, chemical agents and biological warfare. Then, as now, the world must act collectively to safeguard the future of global peace and security.
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SHOW GUEST: WALTER BOSLEY
Walter Bosley is a former USAF counterintelligence agent-turned-researcher who now scrutinizes the secret space program. He has been employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is an inactive reserve officer in the US Air Force for which he served as a Special Agent of the AFOSI, and served as a counterterrorism operational consultant for six years following military service.
After nineteen years in national security, Walter Bosley became a licensed private investigator in California where he also runs his small press publishing company, Lost Continent Library, founded in 2002. Bosley has traveled much of the world, both on the job and off, including trips through Mexico and South America, Central Asia, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
Born in San Diego, California, Bosley attended SDSU where he earned a B.A. in Journalism and since 2007 has combined his professional investigative experience with his writer’s curiosity to go deep into the mysterious territory where synchronicity, UFOs, paranormal phenomena, and occult crimes intersect with history.
