The U.S. Starting Asia Space War? Please…

A groan-inducing article at The Diplomat asks the intentionally provocative question ‘Is the U.S. Starting an Asian Space Race?” The answer, although you would never gather it from the article’s tone and presentation, is a resounding ‘no.’ The article uses the X-37, the re-usable space platform that looks like a quarter-scale space shuttle and launched [...]

China To Launch New High-Resolution Satellite In 2011

One thing about China: they set their dates and seem to be able to stick to them. Or even beat them. The satellite, to launch in late 2011, is identified as ZY-3, a high-resolution, stereoscopic mapping satellite. The described missions are “exclusively for civilian purpose.”  If true, the ZY-3 could be used to support disaster prevention [...]

China Attempts To Rival GPS

Five down and thirty to go. That’s the status of China’s GPS-like constellation called Compass, or by its indiginous name, Beidou. Why go to all the trouble of having your own positioning, navigation, and timing system when you can piggyback on GPS? China has the same reason as the Russians and the EU.  They don’t [...]

China Is The World’s Leading Space Polluter

The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos says China is the world’s leading space debris creator. I’m assuming their calculations include China’s 2007 ASAT “test.”   If so, the Roscosmos assertion would be tough to deny.

Compliance, New START, and Nuclear Whack-A-Mole

The Washington Times and the Washington Post both report on Russian ‘compliance issues,’ regarding the 1991 version of START, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the international convention banning biological weapons. Compliance issues is of course code for both purposeful cheating and inadvertent non-compliance. Are these compliance issues serious?  Well, the headline in the Post says this could [...]

Taiwan: Bummer Of a Geographic Birthmark

Between 1000 and 1400 Chinese missiles are aimed at Taiwan today.  Before long, that number will increase to 2000. China is on track to be able and destroy 90 percent of Taiwan’s key assets. Of course, China says their military build-up is purely defense in nature.  I guess the best defense is a good offense? [...]

New START: a Bi-lateral “Solution” In a Multi-lateral World?

Why do we have treaties?  There are a number of possible answers.  They could be used to codify things we were going to do anyway.  They could be used to build relationships with other nations.  They could be used to improve security or trade, or as a symbol of shared values. Does the new START [...]

The New Space Race?

The new space race will be for positioning, navigation, and timing.  Why?  It’s too important not to have, or conversely, it’s too important to have to depend on someone else for such space-provided services. Who is in the game?  The U.S., Russia, China, and the ESA. Assuming war doesn’t break out (with selective disabling), cross-system [...]

Your Uranium. Sell It To Me.

China and India are anticipating the move to the new green power, which is nuclear. Accordingly, China is moving to increase its electrical power production by nine times its current capacity and India ten times.  By 2020 the two of them could consume over half the uranium mined globally last year, which was a little over 50 [...]

SpaceX Shocks The House With Iridium Win

How low can you go? SpaceX’s bid to serve as the Iridium Next launch agent was cheaper than the Indians and the Chinese. How low is it?  Shockingly low. “That $492 million figure would launch all 72 satellites in our constellation,” said Matt Desch, Iridium’s CEO. So will SpaceX make up in volume what they’re [...]