ALL.SPACE’s Answer to the Weaponising of Space

China’s On-orbit Capabilities No Match for Multi-orbit, Multi-link Intelligent Ground Systems

By Jim Sawall
21 March, 2023

No one doubts China’s intention to weaponise space.

Last week’s U.S. Congressional testimony by Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force, underscored the threat. He testified that China is testing systems that could take out geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites, including on-orbit systems previously proven to “physically control and move other satellites,” reported Space News.

Gen. Saltzman’s warning is the latest in a growing number of voices pointing to China’s rapid advancements that could put it ahead of the West in a global military space race.

While many people view the weaponisation of space as a military problem, I believe it’s predominantly an economic threat based on the world’s dependence globally on satellite communications. It’s unlikely that China will destroy satellites with lasers, but the country will disrupt them, creating significant economic havoc.

The new reality requires not only more advanced, more capable spacecraft, but also a more nimble, intelligent ground segment.

“Intelligent resilience” is a term coined by John Finney, Co-founder and CEO of ALL.SPACE, to describe ALL.SPACE’s vision for a new multi-orbit, multi-link terminal platform.

It’s a vision 10 years in the making and will become reality this year as our first military-grade terminal finishes final validation and testing with our launch customer, SES, ahead of full commercial launch.

Clearly, the world of parabolic dishes, of single antennas and single satellites is over – a new paradigm of low profile, multi-orbit, multi-frequency and multi-link ground terminals is here. But ALL.SPACE’s platform is more than intelligent hardware – it features software to enable our terminal to sense, analyse and act intelligently within the orchestration layer of the satellite network.

Already tested successfully in GEO, MEO and LEO, using independent links that maintained their full performance, ALL.SPACE’s solution has the potential to eliminate China’s threats to satellite infrastructure by making it nearly impossible for them or other adversaries to identify which links or satellites critical data is traversing.

ALL.SPACE is developing this advanced capability with U.S. military customers to allow these services to simultaneously connect to multiple orbits and multiple networks.

The U.S. Space Force – charged with protecting America’s space assets – has a unique opportunity to leverage innovation coming out of the U.S. military branches to amplify and accelerate commercial innovation. In this way, we give the United States and Western allies a powerful counter to China’s adversarial posture in orbit.

We have the technology – ALL.SPACE’s founders saw the future 10 years ago and today are about to unleash a platform of the future to counter the new space Cold War.

About the Author

Jim Sawall is ALL.SPACE’s new Senior Director for Business Development, focused on the Department of Defense. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Jim has served for two decades in PdM SATCOM for the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. He has held numerous roles, including Technical Chief and Program Officer, where he identified and fast-tracked deployment of promising satcom technology to enhance the capabilities of frontline troops.