A new cluster of spy satellites is to be launched by the US Space Force this summer, according to a media report.
The classified "space situational awareness" program, “Silent Barker” - sometimes referred to as “Silentbarker” - is described as a collaboration between the Air Force Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The network of satellites specially conceived to complement both low-earth orbit satellites, and ground-based sensors, will be placed in geosynchronous orbit approximately 35,400 kilometers (22,000 miles) above Earth.
“This capability enables indications and warnings of threats” targeting high-value US systems and will “provide capabilities to search, detect, and track objects from space for timely threat detection,” the US Space Force was cited as saying in a statement.
The satellite cluster is to be launched on board an Atlas V booster some time after July, with the exact date to be announced 30 days in advance on social media, added the NRO. The expendable launch system Atlas V, originally designed by Lockheed Martin, is at present operated by United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
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The cluster “will dramatically increase Space Force’s ability to track on-orbit adversary satellites that could be maneuvering around or be in proximity to our satellites,” Sarah Mineiro, ex- lead staffer of the House Armed Services Committee strategic subcommittee overseeing space programs, told the report.
The new network of satellites is to be launched as the Pentagon has been increasingly regarding space as a "war-fighting domain". As far back as 2017, General John W Raymond, who at the time was head of Air Force Space Command, said in written testimony that "Silent Barker" was a “collaborative acquisition program” between the National Reconnaissance Office and the Air Force that would help to boost satellite threat intelligence and space situational awareness. Raymond, testifying before the US House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee, emphasized:
"In the not too distant future, near-peer competitors will have the ability to hold every US space asset in every orbital regime at risk... We need to embrace the fact that space is a war-fighting domain just like the air, land, cyberspace and maritime."
In 2017 the Air Force had scheduled the launch of "Silent Barker" for fiscal year 2022.
This comes as top American generals have repeatedly voiced concerns regarding the speed of development of the latest generation of military technologies in the main rival countries, such as China and Russia. In 2021, General David Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force, warned that China's space program was overtaking the US by a factor of two, posing an "incredible threat". He had added that China might become the dominant superpower in space by the end of the decade unless the US changed its strategy.
This year, in its annual threat assessment, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence claimed that China's People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is in possession of weapons that could target US and allied satellites, and “counterspace operations will be integral to potential PLA military campaigns".