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Tag Archives: Russia

Chinese Counterspace and the Return of Great Power Geopolitics: Implications and Suggested Strategic Responses for India

India

How should India approach Chinese efforts to develop antisatellite (ASAT) weapons and its ambition to establish space superiority? In a talk given to the Observer Research Foundation’s Space Security conference in New Delhi on 16 February, 2018, ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon offers a few suggestions. For those who have just …

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Russian Defence Minister Shoigu Calls for Military Satellites for Modern Armed Forces

The Russian military plans to modernise its operations with the use of satellites. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made the announcement just two weeks after the U.S. Air Force announced that America must be prepared for space warfare. In his remarks last week speaking on a conference call with representatives of the Russian rocketry and space industries, Shoigu stressed that Russia must deploy a modern orbital constellation of military satellites to support its army and navy. "Only with support from space will it be possible for the Armed Forces to reach maximum effectiveness,” he said. “Therefore, we are paying special attention to this area,".

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Israel’s Spacecom In Talks With Ukrainian Space Agency on Sharing Communications Satellite

Facing financial problems and an uncertain future, Israel’s Spacecom is now looking abroad to expand its satellite communications business. An announcement posted by the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) reports that talks were held between its head, Pavlo Dehtiarenko, and David Pollack, Spacecom CEO, in Kyiv late last month. …

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Japan Launches Latest IGS Reconnaissance Satellite to Monitor North Korean, Chinese, and Russian Threats

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-2A satellite launch vehicle successfully lofted Japan’s latest Intelligence Gathering Satellite (IGS) reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in the Southwest of Japan on Tuesday, 27 February, 2018. The IGS-Optical 6 satellite is one of several Japan has in orbit, including a number with …

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Satellites Over the Mediterranean: SpaceX Successfully Launches Spain’s PAZ Reconnaissance Satellite

SpaceX successfully launched Spain’s high-resolution synthetic aperture radar  (SAR) PAZ reconnaissance satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Thursday, 22 February, 2018. The successful launch of PAZ is the latest by a Mediterranean country and intensifies the space-based surveillance and reconnaissance competition of the geopolitically important sea. The …

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#SpaceWatchGL Op’ed: Securing Sovereign Data: Balancing and Spreading Risk On Earth and In Space

With growing geopolitical risk, a stricter regulatory environment, and new technologies such as Blockchain, how and where sovereign data is stored and accessed is an increasingly important issue for governments and companies. ThorGroup Chairman and President Dr. John B. Sheldon examines the security claims of new diplomatic and commercial concepts for storing sovereign data …

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Thailand To Build Its Own Space Situational Awareness Satellite

The Thai government is considering a proposal to indigenously build its own Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellite that, if approved, is to be launched in 2022. Upon government approval, the satellite will be built by the Thai space agency, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), with the aim …

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South Korea to Build Its Own Satellite Navigation System by 2034

South Korea has announced plans to build a Korean Positioning System (KPS), consisting of seven satellites, by 2034. KPS is being built in order to augment and complement existing global systems such as the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) nationally and regionally, and to create a strategically autonomous positioning, navigation, …

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#SpaceWatchGL Op’Ed: Spacepower and Sea Control in the South China Sea and Beyond

The recent announcement by China to orbit ten Earth observation satellites to solidify its sovereign claim for the South China Sea is a harbinger of the competitions to come for the control of other vital strategic waters across the globe. ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, examines this phenomenon …

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