ASAT

History and definitions

by Anatoly Zak

Geneva, UNIDIR,

March 2014

Anti-Satellite Weapons

(ASAT)

ASAT: things to consider

Deployment of weapons in space as oppose to military use

of space;

Blurry line between anti-missile and anti-satellite

technologies;

Various methods of destroying satellites with ground-based

and orbital platforms theoretically possible;

Numerous projects under consideration during the Cold

War but deployment is limited;

Multi-component nature of ASAT systems (tracking, nav

and launch);

Huge difference in range of ASAT weapons;

Military benefits of ASAT systems remain controversial.

Early steps

US

Sept. 22, 1959:

A High Virgo missile

launched from B-58

targeting an

Explorer satellite.

Unsuccessful.

US

Oct. 13, 1959:

A Bold Orion missile launched from a

B-47 aircraft at 11-kilometer altitude

passes within four kilometers from the

Explorer-6 satellite at an altitude of

251 kilometers.

NOTS’ Caleb SIP

US Navy

Satellite Interpeceptor, SIP, based on

the Caleb mini-satellite launcher (two-stage version).

Launched from F-4

Two successful

air launches in

1961 and 1962

Cancelled

Nike Zeus

US

A nuclear-armed DM-15S

Mudflap missile was

deployed in Kwajalein from

1962 to 1966.

It was to use a direct

ascent to reach the vicinity

of an enemy satellite and

destroy it with an

electromagnetic impulse

resulting from a nuclear

explosion.

Altitude: 550 kilometers

Program 437

US Air Force

Used Thor (DSV-2E)

ballistic missile with a

nuclear warhead

Provided longer range than

Nike Zeus

Officially initiated in 1962

Operationally deployed in

Johnston Island in the

Pacific Ocean until 1975

Altitude: 1,300 kilometers

F-15-based ASAT (ASM-135)

US Air Force

1978: Initiated by the Carter

administration

Sept. 13, 1985: The first

successful launch against

the P78-1 satellite

Congressional ban was

introduced in October 1985.

A total of five tests from

1984 to 1986, but no

operational deployment

Soviet IS system

Co-orbital IS spacecraft and Tsyklon-2 rocket

IS-MD Naryad project

Kaskad 17F111 project

Kontakt 30P6

USSR, 1980s:

The 79M6 Kontakt missile air-launched from MiG-31D

Based in Sary Shagan anti-missile test site

Supported by Krona ground complex

Ready for flight tests around 1991

Sokol Eshelon

SDI: anti-missile systems

Homing Overlay Experiment, HOE

EKV precursor

EKV 1:2 scale model

KKV demo

Lightweight Exoatmospheric Projectile Kinetic Kill Vehicle, LEAP KKV

Standard missiles

Standard Missiles-2 and -3 (right)

Multiple Kill Vehicle test

Dec. 2, 2008, hover test

QuickTime™ and aMPEG-4 Video decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

China: Jan 11, 2007

A KT-2 missile is used to

destroy a defunct

Fengyun-1C satellite at

an altitude of 530 miles,

creating around 2,000

fragments.

Feb. 21, 2008, USA-193

QuickTime™ and aMPEG-4 Video decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Current ASAT club

Demonstrated capabilities:

USA Russia* China

Potential capabilities:

Israel India