Space: Dependable Expendable Space Satellites
February 25, 2024: The American military plans to rapidly deploy myriads of small cheap satellites, similar to Space X’s (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) Starlink system, to deal with the possibility of Russia and China detonating nuclear EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) weapons in orbit to destroy essential satellite networks. The US economy and military have become very dependent on satellite networks for GPS navigation, data transmission, communications, and surveillance.
Such low earth orbit nuclear detonations with yields of several hundred kilotons to several megatons produce much stronger EMP effects on the ground than in orbit, and would destroy all electric production, transmission, and electronic devices on the ground for a radius of several hundred to a thousand miles below the detonations. That would destroy civilization and kill scores of millions in the affected areas. The potential for such orbital EMP attacks has been terrifying for more than thirty years. While EMP attacks on satellite networks alone would take place mostly over oceans because most of the earth’s surface is ocean, the thousand mile lines of sight of their effects would spread over land to some extent, and those detonated over land would destroy civilization there. Basically, such attacks on satellite networks would necessarily destroy most civilization on the planet. It would be suicidal for any nation attempting such an attack on America as they would be obliterated by the massive genocidal American retaliatory attacks, as American strategic nuclear forces are EMP-proof. The doctrine of mutual assured destruction still works.
Hours after these rumors of Russian and Chinese orbital actions appeared, the United States began a planned deployment of an orbital missile tracking system prototype. This effort was called PWSA for Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture and is similar to several different efforts to flood orbital space with networks consisting of thousands of satellites, especially with the ability to quickly send up sufficient additional satellites to replace those lost to hostile action, most likely by Russia or China. All this assumes that the US would not be obliterated by such EMP attacks.
https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htspace/articles/20240225.aspx
