Focused on the Threat: Directed Energy Weapons (Part 3 of 6)

Published Sept. 20, 2024
By Lisa Sodders and Brad Smith, SSC Public Affairs

El Segundo, CA -- Once upon a time it was the stuff of science fiction: lasers in space so powerful they could blind satellites sending GPS and other signals to earth. Today, directed energy weapons are very real and can be used to damage and degrade equipment and signals. They might take the form of a ground-based directed energy weapon, radiating lasers from to blind or dazzle satellite sensors on orbit, or they could operate from space as a directed energy weapon in orbit.

“Having a ground-based weapon gives the adversary a little more power boost, and they can maintain that system on the ground, but in orbit, you can get a lot closer to the target,” said U.S. Space Force Maj. Neal Carter, Space Systems Command’s (SSC) deputy director of intelligence. “There are trade-offs for both of those, and we expect to see more examples of this in the coming years.”

“If we have an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) satellite that we’re using to observe airfields, ships, missiles, or ground troops – all things that the joint force and the national command authority need to build intelligence assessments – and there’s a directed energy weapon with a laser dazzler or other type of emitter that’s engaging and cooking that satellite, the sensors on that bird are fried,” Carter said. “If we can’t see our targets on the ground, then we can’t get that intel to the warfighter, the commander, or the president. It’s a significant threat if adversaries can go from satellite to satellite, pinpointing and targeting our ISR birds.”

Whether the damage is temporary or permanent depends on exposure time and proximity – and for an on-orbit weapon, how close the adversary can get before the rogue satellite is spotted and countermeasures are activated, he said.

In addition to physically hardening satellites to protect them, another way to safeguard satellites involves making sure they are maneuverable and making sure the U.S. and allies can detect when a satellite is being attacked.

“With material hardening comes other drawbacks and tradeoffs. If you put shielding on your system, you could weigh it down too much, and the more weight you put on a satellite, the more expensive it becomes to launch, maintain, and keep in orbit,” Carter said. “There’s a lot of considerations we have to account for as we’re designing a satellite and before we launch it.”

Space Threats Episode 3: Directed Energy Weapons