The concept of space weapons can be rather large. Does this only include weapons used in space, or weapons launched from Earth targeted at near-by objects? The definition could include pace systems in orbit (as with anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the Earth from space or systems designed to disable missiles travelling through space.
Is the fact there are no major examples due to the limitations of technological development? Perhaps. But there is also the Outer Space Treaty (or to give it the long title ‘Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies’), together with the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) II treaty. Both agreements prohibit weapons of mass destruction being placed in space.
Past deployments
There are very few known deployments of weapons stationed in space. The examples are not dissimilar from what might be found on Earth. Cases include the Almaz space-station armament and the occasional issuing of pistols, like the TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol (for any post-landing incidents). This pistol had a detachable buttstock was also a machete that came with a canvas sheath.
Almaz (‘Diamond’) Soviet Space Station
Almaz referred to a secret Soviet military space station program, begun during the early 1960s. As the technology evolved, three crewed military reconnaissance stations were launched between 1973 and 1976. The first was Salyut 2.
What was unusual about the space stations were the fitting or rudimentary armaments: A 23mm Rikhter rapid-fire cannon mounted on the forward belly of the station. This armament could fire from 950 to 5,000 shots per minute, blasting 200-gram shells at a velocity of 690 meters per second.
Despite the addition of a weapon, the Almaz program proved to be too costly, and the project was abandoned before the end of the 1970s.
Orbital weapons
Orbital weaponry remains as a futurist concept. The idea refers to weapons placed in orbit around a large body, like our Moon. As things stand, there are no operative orbital weapons systems.
While no such systems are operational, plenty have been at the design stage, including by both sides during the Cold War.
Orbital attack
Orbital bombardment is about attacking targets on Earth from a position beyond orbit. This concept could include a nuclear delivery system. Orbital bombardment systems with conventional warheads are permitted under the terms of SALT II, although none are known to exist.
However, on 5 April 2019 the Japanese Hayabusa2 robotic space probe released an explosive device called an “impactor” from space onto the surface of asteroid 162173 Ryugu. This was said to be for ‘scientific purposes’ so that debris could be collected. Weapons test or not, the device proved capable of destruction.
The future
While the major treaties mentioned above prohibit ‘weapons’ in space, there are some scientists and politicians who think that the term can be loosened. For example, a device capable of kinetic bombardment may not violate the treaties. This refers to the (current) hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface using an inert projectile from orbit (as a form of orbital bombardment).H ere the kinetic energy of the projectile, impacting at very high speeds, would cause considerable damage. This is in the sense that the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion.
Because of this, some politicians wish for even greater restrictions and advocate developing a Space Preservation Treaty with the intention of banning the placement of any weaponry in outer space.
Central to this issue is with the question ‘who gets to define space weapons anyway?’ This is a point that Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies recently worked through in a paper. The paper appears in the journal Aerospace Security, and it is succinctly titled “International Perspectives on Space Weapons.”
Here Harrison attempts to create a taxonomy of space weapons. Th research organizes space-based weapons into six categories. Harrison argues that some categories have already been proven through testing, deployment or operational use. This includes the kinetic weapon concept.
Another form of attack, albeit highly destructive, could be the reorientation of an asteroid. NASA has a proposed asteroid mission to test how it could move a small asteroid close to Earth for scientific investigation. Possibly such technology could be used, in the wrong hands, as a form of attack.
To add to these, in 2020 the US and UK accused Russia of testing a weapon-like projectile in space that could be used to target satellites in orbit, as the BBC reported.
Russia, the US, China and India are each rumoured to possess such satellite destroying weaponry and starting to develop further technology in preparation for a future fight to dominate space.
Essential Science
This article is part of Digital Journal’s long-running ‘Essential Science’ series where topical science stories are discussed in further detail, providing reader’s with the opportunity to understand key developments.
Last week the topic was solar power. In the context of solar energy being about humankind seeking to produce clean energy from the Sun and to address greenhouse gas emissions, we took in several key innovations.
The week before, we learned why public health services need to plan and prepare for the possibility of the SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) always being an ever-present threat, endemic to most societies.
