Military Satellites Now Maneuver, Watch Each Other, and Monitor Signals and Data

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post. (Alternate URL here):

The American patrol satellite had the targets in its sights: two recently launched Chinese spacecraft flying through one of the most sensitive neighborhoods in space. Like any good tactical fighter, the American spacecraft, known as USA 270, approached from behind, so that the sun would be at its back, illuminating the quarry.
But then one of the Chinese satellites countered by slowing down. As USA 270 zipped by, the Chinese satellite dropped in behind its American pursuer, like Maverick's signature 'hit-the-brakes' move in the movie 'Top Gun.' The positions reversed, U.S. officials controlling their spacecraft from Earth were forced to plot their next move. The encounter some 22,000 miles above Earth in 2022 was never acknowledged publicly by the Pentagon or Beijing. Happening out of sight and little noticed except by space and defense specialists, this kind of orbital skirmishing has become so common that defense officials now refer to it as 'dogfighting...'

Much of the 'dogfighting' activity in space is simply for spying, defense analysts say, with specifics largely classified — snapping photos of each other's satellites to learn what kind of systems are on board and their capabilities. They monitor the signals and data emitted by satellites, listening to communications between space and the ground. Many can even jam those signals or interfere with orbiting craft that provide missile warnings, spy or relay critical information to troops... Traditionally, once a satellite was in orbit, it largely stayed on a fixed path, its operators reluctant to burn precious fuel. But now, the Pentagon and its adversaries, notably China and Russia, are launching satellites designed to fly in more dynamic ways that resemble aircraft — banking hard, slowing down, speeding up, even flying in tandem.

'Traditionally satellites weren't designed to fight, and they weren't designed to protect themselves in a fight,' said Clinton Clark, the chief growth officer of ExoAnalytic Solutions, a company that monitors activity in space. 'That is all changing now.'


'Unlike dogfights between fighter jets, the jockeying-for-position encounters in orbit take place over several hours, even days,' the article points out.

But it also notes that recently Germany's defense minister 'complained about a Russian satellite that had been flying close to a commercial communications satellite used by the German military. 'They can jam, blind, manipulate or kinetically disrupt satellites,' he said.'

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