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Protecting Australia’s digital and physical space assets is fundamental to state security ahead of any future conflict, says Liberal senator James Paterson.
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Speaking to Defence Connect, shadow minister for cyber security and countering foreign interference senator James Paterson explained that making the realms of space and cyber more robust is critical for national security.
“There are certainly military strategists who believe that the fourth and fifth domains of war, that is cyber and space, will be where the first shots are fired in future conflict. I think that is a reasonable concern to have,” he said.
“We have to make those realms much more resilient and much more robust and protect them better. I’m concerned about cyber activity against our space assets but also physical attacks on our space assets.
“You have seen some nation states test destroying satellites in orbit, which is not only dangerous for those assets that they destroy but dangerous for those in its vicinity, given the debris that is created from that incident. So we really need to have expectations and norms in that space.”
In November 2021 Russia launched an anti-satellite strike into one of the nation’s own space objects — Cosmos 1408 — bursting into over 1,500 debris and adding to the ongoing issue of space junk.
LeoLabs, a California-based company which provides commercial mapping platforms through space radars and cloud-based data solutions across the globe said 288 pieces of debris had been detected already late last week — and the number has now reached to approximately 300.
“Well, the problem is that the debris is going to be in orbit for years, if not decades,” Terry van Haren, managing director of Leo Labs Australia, told Defence Connect’s sister brand, Space Connect.
“What it’s done is obviously increase the amount of debris that's in low-Earth orbit, and with that increase, the risks of debris on satellite collision, or space station or spacecraft collision do go up. That’s just a statistical truth,” he added.
Since 1957, rockets, spacecraft, satellites and tools have been launched into orbit, however, once an object reaches its full term, plans for its removal are never made. This, therefore, results in debris left orbiting in space.
Despite the ongoing problem, numerous companies and governments across the globe have partnered to reduce junk through efforts such as developing more sustainable technologies that can assist in their deorbit.
