Globalstar Satellites Safe from Debris
China launched a ballistic missile January 11, 2007 which was used to destroy one of China’s dead weather satellites. Loren Thompson Ph.D. a military and aerospace analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, VA said “even if China has no inclination to attack U.S. satellites, its destruction of its own satellite created a tremendous amount of debris that poses a threat to the many U.S. satellites in near by orbits.The State Department was critical of China’s test stating, the risk to commercial satellites cannot be ignored. We are dependent on communication, weather and navigation satellites to be able to conduct everyday life.
Bob Bennett former Chief of Space Operations for Globalstar when the original constellation was launched was asked would the debris threaten the Globalstar satellite constellation of 48 satellites. Bennett said, “The debris cannot effect our constellation, the destroyed satellite was at a different altitude than our constellation.” Bennett’s current position with Globalstar is head of data services.
The U.S. military see this as a potential threat when a potential enemy shows the ability to take out one of our satellites. Our military is very small compared to China’s military. The effectiveness of the U.S. military relies upon satellite technology. Dr. Thompson said, “If the risk to satellites increases, we’ll need to increase the number of back up rockets. We have back up satellites, but we have not invested in back up rockets.”
This could greatly impact the United Launch Alliance which is a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. ULA’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle division already produces the Delta II and Delta IV rockets. It will soon be producing the Atlas V rocket. ULA’s sole production facility for government satellite-launch vehicles is located in Decatur, AL.
The Pentagon approved ULA so they could maintain “assured access to space.” The U.S. must be able to quickly place satellite in orbit. The Pentagon said, “Recent wartime operations demonstrate the military’s increased dependence on space systems. The U.S. can no longer protect national security without space.”
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