Chinas Space Debris Cleanup May Be Cover Story For Arms Against U.S. Satellites Pentagon Says

(Japan Times) February 12 2019 WASHINGTON - China is developing sophisticated space capabilities such as satellite inspection and repair" and debris cleanup at least some of which could also function" as weapons against U.S. satellites according to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The increase in whats essentially orbiting garbage that could damage or destroy a satellite has implications for policymakers worldwide and is encouraging the development of space debris removal technology" the agency said Monday in an unclassified publication on threats to U.S. satellites. But this technology is dual-use because it could be used to damage another satellite" it said. Of about 21000 large objects in space that are least 10 cm (4 inches) in size that are tracked and cataloged in Earths orbit only about 1800 are active satellites according to the defense agency. The rest is debris including parts of spacecraft. More than a third of all recorded debris is from two events: Chinas use of a missile in 2007 to destroy a defunct satellite and the accidental collision between a U.S. communications satellite and a defunct Russian one in 2009.