Fearful after China’s anti-satellite missile tests, Pentagon launches space command centre

The first salvo was a missile launch by the Chinese in 2007 that blew up a dead satellite and littered space with thousands of pieces of debris. But it was another Chinese launch three years ago that made the Pentagon really snap to attention, opening up the possibility that outer space would become a new front in modern warfare.

This time, the rocket reached close to a far more distant orbit - one that’s more than 35,000km away - and just happens to be where the United States parks its most sensitive national security satellites, used for tasks such as guiding precision bombs and spying on adversaries.

The flyby served as a wake-up call and prompted the US Defence Department and intelligence agencies to begin spending billions of dollars to protect what Air Force General John Hyten in an interview called the “most valuable real estate in space.”

Faced with the prospect of hostilities there, US defence officials are developing ways to protect exposed satellites floating in orbit and to keep apprised of what an enemy is doing hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres above Earth’s surface. They are making satellites more resilient, enabling them to withstand jamming efforts.

And instead of relying only on large and expensive systems, defence officials plan to send swarms of small satellites into orbit that are much more difficult to target.

At the same time, the Pentagon has designated the Air Force secretary a “principal space adviser,” with authority to coordinate actions in space across the Defence Department. Agencies have begun participating in war-game scenarios involving space combat at the recently activated Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Centre.