The SLC-18 radar launched by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation at the Zhuhai Air Show has recently continued to attract foreign attention. The relevant person in charge of CETC revealed to the outside world that SLC-18 "can detect satellites from a distance, identify and classify them, form a radar database, help other equipment respond accordingly, and at the same time, it sends satellite data to the command center to assist decision-making." He also said that the system can be exported to countries around the world, including friendly countries, "and can provide friendly countries with relatively economical ground monitoring of space targets, and provide situational awareness of low-orbit satellites to balance the battlefield situation." ”
The US military media are worried that the export of such radars is a proliferation of space warfare capabilities and is very dangerous to the United States.
(SLC-18 radar)
In fact, the appearance of this radar does not mean that there will be an armed confrontation between China and the United States in space. China's indication that it can export the radar to other countries or provide data services for other countries does not mean that China intends to form a military alliance in space. But it means that the battle for space in another dimension is about to begin: who will be in charge of the future of space traffic management.
We all know that there are so-called air traffic controls in airspace, which ensure the safe operation of civil, general and military aviation. In the past, the number of satellites and space stations in space was relatively small. The probability of collisions between satellites and satellites, between satellites and manned spacecraft and space stations is also relatively small. As long as the space agencies of several major countries communicate their spacecraft orbital parameters and frequency parameters with each other, the problem can be solved.
But today there are more and more spacecraft in orbit. Musk alone, his Starlink program has launched more satellites than all spacecraft in other countries combined. If they are not regulated, they are likely to have devastating consequences for other people's satellites. If Starlink collides with someone else's space station during the process of ascending or descending, resulting in the casualties of astronauts, it will be an immeasurable loss.
(Space transportation is becoming increasingly complex)
In this context, space traffic control is extremely important. It is not just Chinese and China's manned spaceflight that is worried about space safety. If traffic safety in space is not guaranteed, American merchants themselves will suffer. The U.S. military also regards space traffic management as a very important task and has repeatedly studied and discussed it. But as a country accustomed to hegemonism, the position of the US military is that space traffic control can be carried out, but it should be controlled by the Americans, and other countries should be under the command of the Americans.
In recent years, the US space research literature has indeed mentioned that space traffic management should carry out international cooperation to jointly ensure space security. However, those who are familiar with the American way of doing things know that the subtext of cooperation in the mouth of Americans is that I will be the boss. Europe, NATO countries and even U.S. allies in other regions will have little objection to the fact that the Americans are the bosses in space. However, space activities involve national security, and outer space is a common ground of mankind, which cannot be left to the United States. Powers like China and Russia, which have independent space capabilities, would never accept the United States as a traffic cop in outer space under any circumstances.
Since the hegemony of the United States is not recognized, it is necessary to come up with sufficient technical means to deal with it. The first necessary technical means is situational awareness in outer space, we must first know what is in space, what is happening, how different satellites and spacecraft fly, and then we can discuss how to implement it.
(How Space Fence works)
In this regard, the United States has always considered itself to have an exclusive technological advantage, such as the space fence radar system being built by the United States Space Force, which uses a large array to emit electromagnetic waves into space, forming an invisible fence that blocks over Earth orbit. Any satellite passing through this electromagnetic fence will be spotted and then identified and documented. With such data in hand, the US military can naturally call the shots in traffic control. If other countries don't have such data, then they can only rely on the United States. As for whether the US Space Force has released all the data, and what the authenticity and accuracy of the data are, others have nothing to do.
However, after China took out the SLC-18 space surveillance radar, it sent a very clear signal to the world that the United States could not monopolize space surveillance data and lost its so-called exclusive advantage. China has the ability to provide the same data and services for itself and for the world.
(U.S. space surveillance radar deployed in Australia)
As for exporting radars to other countries, it is a very clever idea. Space traffic control, like air traffic control, cannot be accomplished by a set of radars in one country, and a continuously operational radar network must be deployed throughout the world. In order to achieve global aviation safety, developed countries are willing to export relevant radars to air traffic control departments in developing countries.
The production of space surveillance radars is not as common as air traffic control radars, but in order to achieve full coverage of space traffic control, such radars must be available to all countries in the world, including developed and developing countries. China's announcement that the SLC-18 radar can be exported means that all countries may have access to this material base and join the ranks of space traffic management.
If the US side intends to monopolize the technology of space fence radar and not export it to other countries, it does not matter. With its radar technology, China could take the lead in establishing a technical cooperation framework for space traffic control. At that time, if the United States still clings to its own system and is unwilling to participate in cooperation, it will be reduced to a lonely family, or only a few allies around to engage in small gangs.
But the U.S. Space Force and government are not so confused. Perhaps it won't be long before the United States offers to cooperate with China in space traffic management. On the list of cooperation of the Americans, China will have another area in which cooperation is unavoidable.