Physicist, advocate. Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow, https://t.co/hPpBu7rYuh On leave from Global Security Program, https://t.co/1c5n94HQGE. Space, missile defense, nuclear weapons.
Nov 15, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The US @StateDeptSpox confirms Russian ASAT test:
"destructive" "direct ascent" ASAT missile
"dangerous, reckless, irresponsible" (agreed)
"puts collective interests in great danger" (agreed)
"1500 of trackable debris" NOT good news, will be much more @StateDeptSpox The Cosmos 1408 was reportedly about 2200 kg, three times heavier than the Fengyun 1C satellite destroyed by China, which generated about 40,000 pieces of debris large enough to damage satellites (but mostly too small to be reliably trackable). physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.… (2007)
Nov 15, 2021 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
Did Russia destroy a satellite in an ASAT test? This has not yet been confirmed either by Russia or others. The Russian satellite that has apparently disintegrated into multiple pieces made a pass at the time and in the place of the exclusion zones for a Russian missile launch.
The defunct satellite, Cosmos 1408, orbits between about 460 and 490 km altitude. Over 600 active satellites have perigees between 400 and 500 km, including the International Space Station, which reportedly had to move to avoid debris from the breakup.ucsusa.org/resources/sate…
Oct 17, 2021 • 20 tweets • 9 min read
First reported by @Dimi in the Financial Times, China reportedly has tested a FOBS/hypersonic glider hybrid.
(Slow to the draw, but I try not to work on weekends!)
@Dimi Not a space weapon the way you might be thinking. The Outer Space Treaty bars putting nuclear weapons into earth orbit. Stationing nuclear weapons in orbit isn’t something anyone really wants to do anyway. 2009-2017.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm
Nov 17, 2020 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
This morning the Missile Defense Agency announced a successful intercept test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system against an “ICBM target.” What does this mean? mda.mil/news/20news000…
In short, it was a demonstration test to show this regional missile defense system, designed to engage short to intermediate-range missiles, can also target ICBM-range missiles when using its upgraded interceptors. Put that way, it seems like an incremental technical achievement.
Dec 12, 2019 • 24 tweets • 16 min read
It would be easy to freak out about Space Force because of the ridiculous name or alternatively to just dismiss it as bureaucratic reshuffling. I think it’s a mistake to do either. Thread.
Space Force won’t *initiate* the militarization of space. Satellites have been used from the get go for strategic purposes like intelligence gathering and early warning of missile launch. The military use of space intensified in the last few decades
