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Russia warns United States: use of SpaceX for spying makes its satellites a target (www.reuters.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

The math doesn’t work out.

You only need enough asat missiles to create enough debris. Kessler handles the rest.

[–] JohnDClay 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Hense making the entirety of leo unusable

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Eh, not for long. LEO everything falls eventually. HEO... that can take a long hot minute.

[–] JohnDClay 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

LEO we're still talking the better part of a decade, especially the derbies that get kicked to higher altitudes by the collisions. It's not as permanent as higher up, but it's still a strategic level capability, not tactical.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The numbers I've heard for LEO are like 4-5 years. But that point is whatever.

Kessler'ing the LEO means it's now harder to retaliate in HEO. It would be an easy win for Russia to knock out Starlink if the US government is actually relying on it in any meaningful capacity.

[–] JohnDClay 2 points 7 months ago

It sounds like they are using it as a backup for their geostationary sats which would be much higher resolution and data rate. But there aren't as many of them, so they're feasible to shoot down.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

And also affects China and India, both nations that Russia relies on. Doubly on China who is developing their own LEO internet service.