Space War Between India & China Since 2007? US Says China Attacked Indian Satellites

It seems that China is taking all the efforts to strike India from every front.

China has already carried out a series of cyber-attacks between 2007 to 2018 that also includes the computer attacks against Indian satellite communication in 2017, according to a new report by US-based China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI).

CASI Report

Further, The 142-page report notes that China has carried out multiple cyber-attacks between 2012 and 2018.

So far, this report elaborates on the result only in one case.

The report points out a Chinese network-based computer attack on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) In 2012.

It further says that the attack “allowed ‘full functional control’ over JPL networks.” 

While listing out some of these attacks, the report quotes multiple sources.

Here CASI is a think-tank that basically supports the secretary, chief of staff of the US Air Force, the US chief of space operations, and other senior air and space leaders.

CASI is tasked to provide China’s space narrative among other things. 

The institution helps in providing expert research and analysis support to decisions and policymakers in the US department of defense and across the US government.

So far, PLA China continues to acquire and develop technologies that can be used to “blind and deafen the enemy” as per the recent Pentagon report.

Power Play

So far, China has several counter-space technologies that are intended to threaten adversary space systems from ground to geosynchronous orbit  (GEO), as per the report of the US-based China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI).

These counter-space technologies include weapons like direct-ascent kinetic-kill vehicles (anti-satellite missiles), co-orbital satellites, directed-energy weapons, jammers, and cyber capabilities. 

But, we shouldn’t forget that India also had anti-satellite missile technology capabilities which had been demonstrated earlier in 2019.

Basically, this technology has the ability to “kill” rogue or enemy satellites who threaten India.

Yet, India has demonstrated its A-Sat interceptors, which China had done the same in 2007.

Basically, China has the capabilities to mount sophisticated cyber-attacks directed at ground stations with the intent of either corrupting or hijacking the systems used to control spacecraft/satellites, according to a 2019 report released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Further, the report said that “China has investments in developing the ground, air, and space-based radio frequency jammers that target uplinks, downlinks, and crosslinks involved in either control of space systems or data transmission,”.

Although, none of the systems has been compromised while acknowledging the cyber attacks as mentioned by ISRO.