The Space Force, Donald Trump’s gift to the U.S. military-industrial complex, is hard at work keeping America safe from international threats from orbit. US Space Force chief master sergeant Ron Lerch recently detailed the increasing amount of unconventional space weapons the branch is keeping an eye on with the New York Times. Thankfully, no one has developed a functioning Death Star…yet.
While none of America’s foreign adversaries have yet developed a laser capable of blowing up planets, one of them has come up with the next best thing: Russian “nesting doll” satellites. Lerch described the Russian space weapons as “violent, orbital jack-in-the-boxes.” Meanwhile, according to Lerch, other weapons may come in the form of spacecraft capable of casting nets or firing grappling hooks to ensnare their targets.
Another space weapon threatening the cosmos is China’s unscrewed—or robot-controlled—spacecraft. The unmanned vessels China is currently perfecting could eventually learn to communicate with ground forces using quantum tech or even AI-powered satellites.
Ultimately, the Space Force, which is again a totally real and serious branch of the military, is concerned that other countries could be rushing to gain the upper hand in the ongoing space weapons arms race. Lerch warns that within a decade, we could be facing satellites with the capability to spray chemicals or use lasers to blind other satellites. Anyone who’s ever tempted fate and stared into a laser pointer can attest to the fact that beams of light can definitely mess with your ability to see temporarily.
As for chemicals sprayed in outer space, we can only assume that these would be some kind of super-chemicals that wouldn’t burn up in the atmosphere or, even worse, simply float harmlessly through space. We’ll leave the logistics behind the space weapon equivalent of mace to the experts at the Space Force.
