The Increasing Reality of War in Space

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Writing by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation led by Max Moser
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster
Select imagery courtesy Dr Marco Langbroek: sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2022...
References
[1] cyberscoop.com/viasat-ka-sat-...
[2] aviationweek.com/defense-spac...
[3] media.defense.gov/2023/Sep/14...
[4] spacenews.com/dod-satellites-...
[5] www.sda.mil/us-military-place...
[6] carnegieendowment.org/2021/11...
[7] elaranova.com/revolutionizing...
[8] www.sda.mil/wp-content/upload...
[9] media.defense.gov/2023/Sep/14...
[10] www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs...

[@Naw662]

One day the Space Force will be the most important branch of the military you'll see, that day is far but it's not science fiction

[@wyskass861]

Ya, it was the same with Air Force at its start.

[@Josh-ks7co]

The joke isn't pulling airforce responsibilities into a new branch(all this did) the joke is the name is stupid.

[@eaglesviper79]

@@Josh-ks7co and that's the same thing that happened with the air force too, but know on earth the air force is one of the tips of the spear the us can deploy and the next level would be the space and simple naming convention would be space force.

[@chaddixon9764]

@@eaglesviper79 Ok, let me repeat the above since you didn't get it. The. Name. Is. Stupid. Just like the US Army is not called Ground Force. The. Name. Is. Stupid

[@Josh-ks7co]

@eaglesviper79 regardless if you think the name isn't funny a lot of people do and that's the joke. People reading more into it are ignorant or lying to you. If Trump didn't do it and Biden did people would be laughing just as much if not more. It's like calling the Navy "Water Force" does that not sound silly?

[@SkulShurtugalTCG]

Part of the reason the Outer Space Treaty is so vague on "conventional" weapons in space is because astronauts often keep knives and even loaded guns on them as part of their survival kits in the event they land back on Earth somewhere like a forest full of bears.

[@c0ltz450]

I think Russia used to give them shotguns cause of the bears in Siberia. Not 100% sure

[@ASlickNamedPimpback]

Only Cosmonauts carried weapons, and it was a hybrid shotgun/rifle. Most, if not all, Astronauts land in the Ocean.

[@Peichen01]

@@ASlickNamedPimpback I can understand how hybrid shotgun/rifle would be useless against shark with laser so it's pointless to carry one

[@SkulShurtugalTCG]

@ASlickNamedPimpback US astronauts are still given weapons to protect themselves in case they land off-course. SpaceX astronauts have a knife in their pants even during launch and an unloaded gun in their survival packs an arms' reach away.

[@duckvs.chipanddale585]

they dont do that anymore

[@foxphire0093]

Current USSF Guardian and Engineer here; one of the biggest reasons the USSF was established as its own branch was to consolidate space acquisitions and have a budget of its own to develop and sustain capabilities separate from the Air Force's budget - the reason being that the Air Force's primary goal is Air Power, and that always took a precedent over Space Power e.g. the F-35 got the funding over more GPS satellites. Another example was that the Army, Navy and Air Force had different SatCom networks that accomplished the same ultimate goal of communications with forces on the greound/surface (and why I feel for the operators and engineers in Del 8 who have a cluster of different programs and systems that are all managed under one roof). Great video overall to demonstrate the critical need for space for the 21st century warfighter and to demonstrate how real of a warfighting domain space has become. _Via Vincimus and Semper Supra!_

[@imonbanerjee2997]

How could one join the proverbial space nerds?

[@IonorRea]

@foxphire0093 If you are actually working in defense for the government and yet promoting it on the internet to be targeted by foreign powers and hobby hackers for the intrusion of privacy you must doing it on purpose because you can be sure Google is not in a position to protect data they got on you (phone, debit card, location, likely income & personal profile) against China nor Russia. So, you are either making bait to which US cyberspace defense personnel will be targeting intruders of your privacy or you really don't know what you are doing, then there is quite a good chance that you are lying because promoting your government job resume on the internet is something government personnel of any self-decent institution with access to classified information must be warned against unless you are already in pension. It's not like you see people bragging in the comment section that they are working on 6th-generation jet fighters or doing cyberspace counterintelligence for NSA...

[@patrioticskol3676]

@@imonbanerjee2997 Your local Air Force recruiter can help! Similar to how the Marine Corps is a subdepartment of the Navy, the Space Force falls under the Department of the Air Force.

[@bobjohn2000]

We’re the mighty watchful eye

[@jimbarino2]

But what we need is Desert Power. The spice must flow!

[@degs3511]

Correction: The ASM-135 test in 1985 was NOT a co-orbital ASAT. Co-orbital means the weapon achieves orbit prior to engaging it's target. The ASM135 was a direct-ascent ASAT, meaning it struck its target without ever entering orbit. These are two radically different classes of weapons.

[@SlipspaceEntertainment]

Glad to see something about Space conflict. A lot of people just don't know how important space is to day to day life and how vulnerable it is.

[@Booz2020]

Never Say NEVER 😎 Justin Bieber

[@Amalgamotion]

Incredibly important to the day to day. The disinformation would certainly have a tougher time getting around which wouldn't suck... At the cost of shear chaos.

[@lightlingzooma-69]

are you fir space conflict or not😂

[@I_dreamed_my_name_was_Brandon]

😂 if only you knew how ridiculous this comment is

[@andreypetrov4868]

Most people are so stupid that they don't even distantly understand what can happen with their worthless lives within 2 hours.

[@MehrGills]

25:45 I really wanted the line to be "the consequences are just astronomical"

[@wanali4504]

That sound more like something you would hear on HAI

[@NGC-catseye]

Lol 😹 my comment was going to be time stamped as well. I’ll share here now, at 23:45 he proved we now live on a flat earth because of satellites 🕳

[@wanali4504]

@@NGC-catseye honestly can’t tell if it’s a joke lol

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

They should hire you to write for Wendover.

[@IrishSpyHD60]

​@@NGC-catseyebro doesn't listen

[@uma4222]

I transferred from the US Army into the US Space Force a few years ago. I appreciate seeing more outlets realize and communicate the importance of our mission to the United States' national defense.

[@hamzamahmood9565]

Broooo I need your reference

[@nullumamare8660]

"National Defense"

[@svankensen]

I don't trust the US as far as I can throw a stone. Particularly not the US' military.

[@mason4354]

Thank you for your service

[@svankensen]

Good old US, always on the defensive. Never starting wars that gets way over a million people killed in the 21st century alone so far.

[@TrentPierce101]

As a guy in the Space Force (pretty sure I was in this video too lol) thanks for taking it seriously and for making this video. Really well done.

[@TheAlchemist1089]

What do you do in the space force 😮 🫡🫡

[@halfsourlizard9319]

@@TheAlchemist1089 Missile warning tech ... which would have taken you like 4 seconds to work out if you knew how to Internet.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

i was also in this video (it showed a picture of earth and it included the general region where i am located)

[@natowaveenjoyer9862]

@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 You have been doxxed!

[@mreshadow]

​@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721me too! I was the Russian satellite

[@gregsmith1548]

To be fair to Steve Carell he initially dismissed Space Force as ridiculous but as his team did research for the movie he realized its real life importance

[@Spencergolde]

The show as a whole also does a lot of work defining the importance of space and realistic conflicts that could occur in the near future

[@DensityMatrix1]

It's impossible for some people to admit Trump was correct about anything. 1. His speech at the UN warning Germany of the dangers of being reliant on Russian Gas. 2. His warning/threat to NATO member to start paying their agreed upon share otherwise they were inviting conflict because of their weakness. 3. Space Force 4. etc etc.

[@andrewarnold9818]

If I remember right, the concept of the show is that the general Carell plays is like "sure whatever" and then gets overburdened by the new job. People just made fun of it because Trump was president. It was already something that had been pushed by the military for about a decade.

[@NightRogue77]

Citation needed

[@reganator5000]

@@andrewarnold9818it's the odd thing where it sounded funny, but the reason for doing it was to co-ordinate the previously separate airforce, navy and army space regimes. It wasn't really an interesting news item if the words 'space force' hadn't sounded silly' - it was a long overdue bureaucratic reshuffling.

[@elijahm3688]

genuinely surprised the words "Kessler syndrome" did not make it into this video

[@darrellcherry9172]

The greatest threat to space exploration.

[@goulddddable]

Is that when you make the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs ??

[@mnxs]

​​@@goulddddablemore aptly when you fail it... spectacularly and catastrophically 😅 Edit: to all of you replying to @goulddddable explaining Kessler Syndrome: they were making a Star Wars joke. The Millennium Falcon supposedly "made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."

[@NexAngelus405]

​@goulddddable It's when there's so much debris that space travel becomes too risky because each piece of debris is like a bullet hurtling through space fast enough to easily poke holes in space craft.

[@xymaryai8283]

​@@NexAngelus405more specifically, the cause of such a situation. Kessler Syndrome refers to the increasing number of collisions because each collision dramatically increases the amount of fragments that could cause another collision, and then another, exponentially, like a nuclear chain reaction. at first we would only see a few collisions, than a significant amount more, then an overwhelming amount. Kessler Syndrome is happening right now, collisions are increasing, but they are doing so slowly enough it's not yet cause for panic. but it very easily could be.

[@Ocean_Man_Take_Me_To_The_Land]

I want to personally thank you, I have a presentation on space warfare tomorrow and i need a video and there were no good ones until now, you are my hero.

[@Breezybeef]

You are welcome glad I could help

[@billzoidis]

Loved seeing Thessaloniki's very own "white tower" at 3:09

[@hallahgray3190]

Most people think the idea of the space force is brand new, but it isn’t The first discussion of a U.S. Space Force occurred under President Dwight Eisenhower's administration in 1958 and it was nearly established in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative otherwise known as Star Wars. In essence, what’s old is New again old ideas constantly getting rehashed.

[@nicoliedolpot7213]

also the Star Wars program isn't dead yet, since the director of the anit-ICBM Brilliant Pebbles project moved to continue working on it along with SpaceX for semi-obvious reasons.

[@20chocsaday]

Only a few years after Sputnik 1 was launched the USA launched their own satellite. A newspaper carried a cartoon with one man holding a sheet of paper out to two others holding pens shaped like black painted V-2 rockets. Below were the words, "Oh goody, now we can sign too."

[@russellharrell2747]

Space Force/Space Corps had been proposed previously to Trump signing those papers. Like nearly 2 decades previously. It was a very real and serious answer to a military need being recognized by the pentagon. The fact that it took so long tells you all that you need to know what politicians and the public think about the importance of space.

[@Wraithfighter]

To be fair, it was also subject to a lot of Pentagon infighting slowing the whole process down. The Air Force didn't want to give up USAF Space Command, after all, that was their budget and a lot of importance and control for the Air Force going to a new department, and you can't have that!

[@jmr5125]

In addition, a dedicated "Space Force" moves another step closer to normalizing space warfare as a legitimate theater of war. As long as US military space operations was part of the Air Force the United States could portray it as "Oh, yeah, we've got a few military folks that look after a few satellites, but it isn't a big deal like NASA." This was always a pure PR piece, meant for the consumption of the "unwashed masses," but... well, lots of _politicians_ fall into that category. Perhaps the lack of an official "Space Force" resulted in a few million less being invested in Russia / China space budgets. Probably not, but it can't hurt, right?

[@speedy01247]

its literally the only thing I can remember agreeing with Trump about. (ironically it was also one of the few times my republican friends actually disliked trumps decision)

[@meferswift]

@@speedy01247 people forgot that, yes trump like to take credit but forgot that he takes it from somewhere. Probably from his.

[@Skeloperch]

@@speedy01247 Most Republicans actually like the idea too. Attend a CPAC event and ask the people there what they think and you'll probably come up with 60 - 70% support for the Space Force.

[@sarysa]

I have an irrational amount fear about Kessler Syndrome, because even though I'm probably too old to reach a time where space travel is affordable, the idea of our species imprisoning itself on this planet horrifies me at some fundamental level. And with the state of international relations in 2024, it feels like an inevitability.

[@JoviaI1]

Let me fix that fear for you real quick. Things in low-earth orbit (LEO) (the orbit that could "imprison" us) still has atmospheric drag which causes everything in it to naturally de-orbit. This can take a very long time but the process can be rapidly solved with one thing. A nuclear detonation in upper atmosphere/LEO can shorten the de-orbit time by a factor of ten or more. This is also one of the biggest reasons we are so afraid of nukes in space. It will wipe out almost everything we have in LEO. Even in space, nukes are still mutually assured destruction.

[@Alexander_Kale]

There are multiple ways to get off a planet affected by kessler syndrom, even if some of them are not pretty. Lasers, bombs, ablative armour, you name it. Plus, kessler syndrome would only affect one orbit, that being the one that has all the stuff in it. go higher, and you are fine. stay lower, you are fine too. Plus, you know, th Earth is a nice planet to be trapped on in any case....

[@sarysa]

@@Alexander_Kale Earth is indeed a fine planet, but I'd like to think our species can at least colonize the Milky Way. We need to just stop like...warring, and such.

[@Alexander_Kale]

@@sarysa Warring amongst ourselves has not stopped us from colonizing this planet, it will not stop us from colonizing all the others. I prefer the idea that we will build utopia despite having flaws and recognizing them, not because we will eventually get rid of said flaws.

[@sharrpshooter1]

@@JoviaI1 A fun fact I love about this that you didn't mention for anyone reading this comment thread and curious, detonating a nuclear device in LEO would obviously destroy anything within the conventional blast wave, but what is does thats way way more powerful and destructive, is release an insanely powerful EMP that can whip out anything on something like half the side of the planet in orbit (think everything the sun touches during the day but in space). It wont physically destroy them, but instead fry all the electronics. The US government tested this way back in the 50s and saw these effects, and then pushed for no more nuclear testing in space as satellites became a real possibility.

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

On space debris, it's worth noting an attack on geosynchronous or semi-synchronous orbit would be particularly bad, because while debris in low-earth-orbit will de-orbit on it's own given decades or centuries due to atmospheric drag, geosynchronous orbit would be basically screwed permanently (or at least until we manually clean it up). Relatedly, one factor is that there is a legitimate purpose behind developing anti-satellite technology - Active Debris Removal. Most technology that could be used to remove space debris could _also_ be used to remove active satellites, so there is a bit element of hush hush around the technical specifics of the field. And also, this is a minor point, but the liability nightmare that would ensue in the event of Kessler Syndrome (the bit mentioned in the video where collisions trigger ever more collisions) would be _insane_ . There is basically no regime to determine responsibility if one satellite, or the debris from a satellite, collides with another. And they are pretty damn expensive. t wasn't addressed in the Outer Space Treaty or any of the subsequent treaties, and there are now many, many more actors in space than just the US and USSR. Arguably, all satellites are legally the responsibility of the state from where the satellite launched from (no private ownership in space! Legally, Space Communism is a thing, kinda). I think Russia has some legal provision to make it responsible for stuff launched from Baikonur, but France is on the hook for all satellites launched from French Guyana. The liability uncertainty creates a big problem for insurers, which creates a big problem for commercial users of space - as the current situation in the Red Sea demonstrates, scaring off insurers can cause immense damage even if there aren't actually that many incidents, proportionately.

[@Croz89]

There's been a lot of discussion that the current laws around space, particularly around liability and responsibility, are no longer fit for purpose. Space law is an evolving field, and some law schools are starting to research it.

[@personzorz]

The relative velocities in geosynch would be much lower though, and uncontrolled debris would dissipate into a much larger volume

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

@@Croz89 True, the tricky thing is though, as with all matters of international law, even if everyone can agree there is a problem, unless the geopolitics align it's very difficult to do anything about it, especially given the increased diversity of space actors. One paper I read was basically saying we need a catastrophe to get real change. Once there is a big collision that makes news headlines, costs money, kills someone and/or causes an international dispute then the treaties might be reopened. Which is a bit depressing, but checks out to me.

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

@@personzorz That's an interesting point, one that I've struggled to find good data on. Yes, geosynchronous orbit is much larger, given it's so much further away than LEO, but it's also relatively narrow and clustered around the equator, as opposed to LEO which is more like a fuzzy shell. By my understanding, a lot of the debris from a collision in GSO would stay within the orbital band of the satellite. GSO satellites also tend to be much larger, which I suppose both makes collisions less likely, and means any collisions that do happen will result in more debris. I'd love to see a proper simulation comparing the relative impact of debris-forming events in both orbits (particularly with sun-synchronous orbit in LEO, given I believe that's the most heavily used one) The relative speed thing is interesting. I would imagine that matters most for the very small debris, which is just as well given that stuff is all but impossible to track, especially that far out!

[@Croz89]

@@merrymachiavelli2041 I think we can look at things like the UN convention on the law of the sea for laws we could adapt to space. Such as every artificial object in space having a registered country whose laws govern its operation and who assumes responsibility in the event of an incident. Space is in a lot of ways like international waters.

[@vladvladislav4335]

Minor correction: GPS Block IIF reads as "Block two F"

[@linkrock4644]

Nobody cares. Go touch grass 😂

[@cooltwittertag]

@@linkrock4644 I'm inside your home.

[@linkrock4644]

@@cooltwittertag don't threaten me with a good time 😉

[@nataliemueller622]

I'm in the kitchen. You want anything?

[@dannymuggleton6019]

​@@linkrock4644you ok hun? Just a correction

[@nile6076]

I really appreciate what you did with the music in this video. It conveys a much more serious tone than most of your others, fitting, given the subject matter.

[@TAP7a]

Space warfare without space cleanup will spell doom for any future space activities

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Yeah, that's an argument I've seen a lot regarding things like massive arrays of internet satellites. I haven't heard a lot of talk about how military stuff will do the same thing.

[@elina35462]

​@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721imo internet satellites provide net benefits to humans on earth, military ones don't. It's a lot easier to justify putting stuff out there that benefits us without a way to take it down then stuff that's designed to kill everyone

[@david7384]

well, any space activities besides janitor

[@brandonhoffman4712]

So we can expect chaos when china decides to attack Taiwan and try to cripple the US's response capabilities.

[@WohHappy]

I disagree most things will burn up on its way back to our atmosphere

[@wrath0808]

I never understood why anybody thought "Space Force" was funny. We've had a space force for years. It was just called the Air Force. We just realized that it was important enough to create it's own branch.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

You are expecting people who pay no attention to anything except what their social betters tell them to, to understand that.

[@DrSamIAm]

It seemed they mocked it because of Trump derangement syndrome, and the view that anything the Orange Man did must be bad and mocked.

[@Admiral_Jezza]

Because Trump brought it back, so to these dumbasses it's bad just because...

[@levitatingoctahedron922]

donald trump said it, that means it's silly and bad.

[@reventon_4442]

Literally just orange man bad syndrome

[@Acceleronics]

I worked on a "rendezvous and proximity" project as part of my first engineering position with Hughes Aircraft after my university graduation in 1985. That was almost 40 years ago. Technology advances pretty quickly, so I'm sure we (and they) have gotten much better at it over the past 40 years.

[@user-ov8fg9wk6p]

The amount of well researched content you provide is insane and so good for this world.

[@radjadawamindra697]

Damn, it's Ace Combat 7 all over again.

[@Jaka.Ellinsworth]

Call of Duty: Ghost*

[@Ramonatho]

​@@Jaka.Ellinsworth Nope, it's more Ace Combat and you need to do more with your life than play CoD.

[@AMalas]

Are you really freindlies? Get the general to safety!

[@user-de6ex4ep1n]

@@Ramonathoits been 10+ years since Ghosts. ithink he’s done smth between then and now bro. AC7 isn’t much better my bro get a real flight model

[@oldcowbb]

where is the space elevator then

[@thomaswalsh4552]

4:02 Physicist here. The differences in gravitational force caused by distance from the planet for objects in orbit is far weaker than implied here, and definitely not the reason for faster minimum velocities to stay in orbit. For example, at the altitude of the ISS, they still experience about 90% of surface gravity. The reason for faster minimum speeds is simple geometry. Orbiting is (put simply) moving fast enough “sideways” so that, while you fall towards the planet, you are also moving so far to the side that you miss, continuously. Different gravitational pulls will affect what those sideways speeds need to be, but for the same planet and orbiting object, the distance changes the necessary speed relatively very little compared to simply how large the orbit is. The easiest way to conceptualize it is probably this: imagine you are orbiting 1 foot off the surface. You would have to travel around a significant portion of the globe to account before falling that foot in order to remain in orbit. You would have to be traveling extremely fast for no other reason than having such little space to work with. Now imagine you’re orbiting at a thousand miles up. You now have much, much more time to “miss” the planet; instead of one foot, you have a thousand miles to use while covering that same distance to miss the planet. Edit: If you’d like to think about it geometrically, the further satellite can account for fall and “sideways” travel in a shape more closely approximating an equilateral triangle, which has a relatively small hypotenuse (which itself approximates the necessary velocity), while the near satellite has a very lopsided triangle, needing to travel far more to the side than the distance it falls, and thus making a hypotenuse far longer than the average of the other side lengths. Edit 2: This wasn’t meant to be a full, formal explanation of orbital mechanics, as some people seem to think I was trying to do. The entirety of my point is that the differences in felt gravitational pull via different orbital radii is not the primary reason for different minimum orbital speeds.

[@emfournet]

As a physicist, as you say, you should know that those are the same thing. A circular orbit always requires a given speed, whether or not there is a planet's surface beneath it. Classically, the additional speed is required for the centripetal forces to balance the gravitational, and higher gravity means you fall faster, so you must go faster to remain in a circle. However, to say that the reason is not additional gravity is to misunderstand your relativistic classes entirely. The spacetime nearer to the earth exhibits a greater curvature, and the path of the satellite follows the tighter curve. But perhaps you are a particle physicist. The ISS's orbital velocity at 230 miles altitude is 97.2% of the orbital velocity at sea level, by the way, which kind of makes your "90%" comment a red herring.

[@elliotgillum]

​@@richdobbs6595As someone who is not a physicist, they both sound like they are explaining the same phenomenon using slightly different terminology.

[@richdobbs6595]

I guess we need more folks to use Kerbal Space or take Brilliant courses. The formulas for this were published by Issac Newton on July 5, 1687. They are routinely taught in high school physics classes.

[@andrasfogarasi5014]

Assuming constant centripetal acceleration, the required velocity should actually _increase_ per the square root of distance, as per the centripetal acceleration formula, a=v^2/R. You may verify this formula up to a constant multiplier via dimensional analysis. An object having more distance to cover to miss the planet doesn't help it. It has to go faster to cover that distance.

[@EebstertheGreat]

@@richdobbs6595 The centrifugal force due to uniform circular motion is mv²/r. The centripetal force due to gravity is GMm/r². These are equal when v² = GM/r. In other words, orbital speed is inversely proportional to the square root of the orbital radius. Think about it this way. If you double your distance from the earth, gravity drops fourfold, but speed only drops by a factor of 1.4. So Thomas sort of has it backwards. It's not that gravity only changes "slightly," it changes tremendously. The reason Thomas probably had this wrong impression is that he was comparing LEO to the surface of the earth, which is just not a very large distance, so of course the difference in gravity isn't that large. But the difference in orbital speed also isn't that large (ignoring terrain and air resistance). When we compare orbits that have significantly different radii, like LEO and geosynchronous orbits, the gravitational force changes a lot, and that's why a lower speed is required. Or think about it another way. If Thomas's claim were true, then we should expect to see higher satellites moving slower even in a uniform gravitational field. But that's backwards. Higher satellites would actually have to move _faster_ than lower satellites if gravity were uniform, in order to keep v²/r constant.

[@slothfulcobra]

The element of speculation and the unknown makes everything so much spookier

[@saturnv2419]

Actually US do have some "dark sat" which use materials that reflects radio wave and reflects very little visible light. They are quite literally speaking are not tractable, at least not according to known method.

[@williamwolfs4819]

You can still see when they occlude light from, e.g., stars behind them

[@AdrianLee]

Hey, just a heads up, "Block IIF" is pronounced "block 2 f" and it's the second ordinal series of GPS satellites. It was preceded by Block I and will be succeeded by Block III.

[@somerandomuser5155]

Putting space before F would solved the issue

[@AdrianLee]

Also, great video, as always! 😁

[@TheHuntermj]

18:50 AK47 duct taped to Sputnik

[@talknight2]

If it looks stupid but it works, it ain't stupid!

[@parasharkchari]

It's the predecessor to an orbital equivalent to the A-10.

[@imperialofficer6185]

Those stupid rooskies and their functional technology working and whatnot they'll get what's coming one day I bet they smell

[@lenarianmelon4634]

Ironically at those speeds even rifle bullets are slow

[@TheHuntermj]

@@lenarianmelon4634 The bullet speed will be relative to the satellites, match orbits and you're good.

[@kskaiseraaron]

Saw the gator ball in the video. Worst piece of equipment I used. It worked but i always felt it was a pain and it was very finicky to acquire. Now the RRK was one of the slickest pieces of equipment I ever used. You put in the configs and it would lock and optimize the connection for you. All you had to do was point it in the general vicinity. Was also light and easy to transport

[@charlesarbuckle7958]

In Swakopmund, Namibia when i was a child in 1978, My father and myself witnessed two "stars" converging from opposite directions while laying in the backyard on manure bags, they hit each other and it caused a massive explosion which resembled a fireworks yet it had the colour of starlight thinning out as it expanded until it disappeared like stardust. No colour just white light and no sound just visuals. I lie not and remember it like yesterday. I say that this world has had star wars like capabilities since or even before this imprinted moment!

[@BanterEdits]

Correction to the Viasat hack: This was only Ukraine's backup communications, they say their comms were not affected by the hack. You're framing it as if they were incapacitated.

[@TAP7a]

Considering how effective Ukraine’s response was especially in those early days, it’s hard for me as a dumdum layman to say it had much of an impact

[@PicturesqueGames]

They also said ghost of Kiyv was real with stupid amounth of A2A takedowns, and yet it turned out to be a wet fart.

[@hdjono3351]

@@PicturesqueGamesRussia was suppose to take 3 days to invade, and yet here we are

[@goste4]

@@hdjono3351please tell me how to find a direct source for this claim. I’ve been searching for a single direct source for months and the best I’ve ever found was some low level lawmaker there saying they would win eventually, but not giving any timetable at all. So if you have a link to a document or a speech that supports you I’d love to see it. Tell me how to find it thanks…

[@2goober4u]

​@@hdjono3351 they actually meant 3 years

[@abrokeengineer967]

The result of going into a space age with the kindling of conflicts and war still within us will only be disastrous.

[@Sellsor]

The quality of this video seemed better and high budget than usual. I liked the music better

[@TotemStorms]

Very glad that this video went back to first principles to explain "why orbits". We've just started the Astronautics badge, and being able to show them the first part of this (we didn't have time for the whole thing unfortunately) made things so much easier. Also, at least one of the Scouts got excited when he realised that this was the same people as Jet Lag.

[@ethanpatel3622]

Everyone makes fun of the spaceforce until they actually stop and think about it

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

"stop and think about it" that's asking a lot.

[@ethanpatel3622]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 very true

[@shinomustdie]

Anti trump cult will hate anything he does even if it's good for them

[@JacquelineKristol]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 You want Dems to think hahah good luck :D

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

It’s not a new thing. It was just a rebranding of some things the Air Force already did.

[@JonathanPerez-sj7qb]

Imagine humanity never unites and we just end up having celestial bodies belonging to a certain country and that’s how war evolves in space

[@GrapeFlavoredAntifreeze]

Someone needs to start watching more hard sci fi lmao

[@Hydrologist]

It won’t, religion alone makes that impossible🤷🏾‍♂️

[@duckpotat9818]

@@Hydrologist how

[@faceboy1392]

@@Hydrologistdo you mean that religion divides people too much to have entire planets be part of a single nation?

[@talltale9760]

@@Hydrologist only as long as there’s more than one religion

[@kyun1711]

was really cool to hear Theatre of Delays playing in the background! Excellent musician and excellent music.

[@cmdr1911]

To reinforce the important of GPS, it is also utilized maintain the power grid as well. Finds faults and helps sync the equipment.

[@felixleong61]

Space warships will most probably look like the ones on the Expanse. I can totally see the US Space Force or China building something like the UN Truman class Dreadnought or the MCRN Donnager class Battleship.

[@WasatchWind]

The biggest thing you're going to expect if we every get in space warfare is that offensive craft will have very prominent radiators - every hit you take in space will generate tons of heat that you'll desperately need to get rid of. But something like a warship I don't consider likely for a long time. Better to do it with unmanned craft for now.

[@1nsaniel]

Space warfare between earth factions is the worst timeline

[@2goober4u]

i imagine mostly unmanned, very small ships/missiles designed to destroy things with pure kinetic energy or shrapnel bombs

[@dazurathefirst8456]

​@@WasatchWind I doubt this. There are more effective ways of dissipating heat for one, for two any impact you do take in space from hostile weaponry is probably going to be the only hit and last hit you can take. There's no reason for weaponry to not be able to accelerate to ludicrous speeds or impact with devastating charges. Nuclear warheads are actually perfect space based weaponry due to both disruptive effects on electronics and a hit on a ship is pretty much guaranteed hull breach as it would instantly vaporize the hull upon impact. What is cool however is that we may see scaled up versions of tech that Boeing has a patent for that dissipates the energy from explosive shockwaves by super-heating the air around the defensive system, disrupting the shockwave. I'm not sure how effective this specific method would be in a vacuum, however.

[@SCIFIguy64]

Space warfare is going to be boring robotic craft resembling kitbashes of telescopes and probes launching clouds of lead at high velocity towards each other. Manned craft won’t happen until colonies become common enough for a persistent human presence in interplanetary travel. One of those satellites attack a crewed Martian lander, we will see some real Frankenstein spacecraft. Orion drive, Casaba howitzers and all.

[@zeltron-qk2iu]

Completely forgot to mention that apart from US Russia & china, India has also done ASAT test in 2019, so there's atleast 4 ASAT programs in tge world that we know of

[@joeboydedaev6393]

Ugh India space agency is decades behind those 3 major countries.

[@sanskarvyas9888]

​@joeboydedaev6393 whatever you wish to believe. They achieved the same in 2019 so it's definitely not 30 years behind

[@Amoghavarsha.]

They can't accept that poor country India is achieving something in space tecnology. Their little ego hurts 🤕😂​@@sanskarvyas9888

[@SMASHINGblargharghar]

​@@joeboydedaev6393I would argue otherwise. India is proving that a space program doesn't have to cost their country a significant portion of their budget. I don't think they're decades behind -- their rapid advancement at lower costs tells me they're gonna catch up in a matter of single digit, not double digit years.

[@MurderTeam1995]

I think one thing that should have been mentioned here is Space X's reusable rocket technology. Being the only entity in the world who can successfully do this has given a MAJOR leg up for the United States in terms of the modern day "space race". This has drastically reduced the cost and increased the volume at which the United States can launch it's satellites.

[@YTAccount82825]

2:35 Correction: The internationally defined Kármán line is defined at 100km, not 100mi.

[@CakeboyRiP]

So next to the red atomic button there is also a red space destruction button for each of the presidents offices

[@killumanti7749]

But of course

[@republicofluckteinburgpres1385]

This video is slightly misleading, geo stationary orbit is relatively open and clear of satellites and debris in comparison to LEO (Low Earth Orbit), which has 21457 trackable orbital and suborbital objects. There are more objects other than just these pieces, and there are about 167 million more of these smaller untrackable debris, and they pack a punch. (The ISS was struck by one of the untrackable debris and had a crack in Cupola Module window)

[@wganspud]

This was pretty cool. I work for a contractor who is doing work on Tranche 1 and Tranche 2. Good job :)

[@breadman32398]

I was always confused why everyone was making fun of space force. Like do they not think it's necessary? It's like laughing at the US air force being created in 1947.

[@kcolfer]

People were making fun of space force as a surrogate for President Trump. They made fun of or complained about (and still do) literally everything he did or does.

[@mscomies]

More like the USAF being created in 1930 before all the strategic bombing from WW2.

[@arrtwo1375]

Its bc of who started it

[@Ramonatho]

Two things: dumb name, and all of these actions were already being done by different branches that interacted with each other anyway All the space force does is what the Air Force, NOAA, and DoD did anyway

[@truejacksonveep]

How is it a dumb name when it makes sense being a child of the Air Force? Additionally, your second point is the reason it was made. To streamline aspects each did into one for military usage. Plus, the Air Force was birthed from the Navy.@@Ramonatho

[@armandomercado2248]

The thumbnail of the satellite with its high gain antenna point in the same direction as the solar panels is amusing.

[@henryzhang3961]

the first three minutes of this video were so interesting. I never knew about any of that stuff

[@Trinity_Minehan]

This video is ahead of its time. Great video 👍

[@highlightcenter5651]

To be fair using Colbert and Kimmel as a litmus test for intelligence is like taking financial advice from a crack addict

[@avischetlin]

to be fair, most wall street finance geniuses are high on crack...

[@fosatech]

Genuinely don't understand how people watch that every day

[@Martan404]

Jim Cramer?

[@testaccount1563]

Additional note, when India conducted a similar test it did so with extreme caution. The Chinese ASAT test in 2007, which occurred at an altitude of 865 kilometers and produced a debris field of some 3,000 objects that will linger in space for decades, the Indian demonstration appears to have produced some 400 fragments (of which about 270 are being tracked) that will decay in weeks or perhaps a few months. Both US and China had some very unkind words despite conducting similar tests.

[@Pxndaz]

Not sure if this message will get to you, but I actually have a whole research report for college on the weaponization/militarization of space. I heavily base my style of writing off of the script used in this video so its such a crazy coincidence! So thank you for making this video!

[@ducky2763-ce9ul]

Bendover productions really popping off

[@ducky2763-ce9ul]

s

[@Craul08]

Every time I hear Space Force in a Sci Fi book I think 'oh shit, that's actually a real thing'. They don't need to come up with names any more like 'UN Space Command', it's just Space Force.

[@McZarya]

18:14 rock ‘em sock ‘em satellites goes hard af😂

[@Xevf]

This is such a well made video! I think they should we showing videos like this in schools to raise public awareness about such threats and possibilities. Definitely a sub from me 👍

[@toreyweaver9708]

What an incredible piece of work. Great content

[@burritosforlater]

The Space Force scene where they sent the monkey and dog to space was so f*cking funny how quickly their reactions changed

[@haritbhardwaj7131]

One correction in the list of countries with anti satellite system. India 🇮🇳 is also in this list. India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), successfully neutralised a satellite in space with its anti-satellite (ASAT) missile on 27 March 2019, in Mission Shakti.

[@LaGuerre19]

18:11 i like to imagine satellites up there with just one robotic arm each furiously punching each other like plastic rock-em-sock-em robot toys from the 80s.

[@Starman-qj1wt]

Great video, I'd also recommend looking into the bus-sized Chinese and US space planes which go into space for years and re-enter without any idea what they're doing. Crazy to think about!

[@everypitchcounts4875]

X-37B

[@Nu0matrix]

Spaaaaace!!!!!

[@sonofasalesman]

ooh ooh space rock, play cool

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

Couldn't help but imagine the space core from Portal 2.

[@BladeScraper]

What's your favorite thing about space? Mine is space.

[@no1fanofthepals]

gotta go to space

[@micahgooden375]

Hey. Hey. Hey lady. Hey, hey lady. Space?

[@eaglesviper79]

people mocked the air force before and during its formation, just goes to show that forward thinking is mocked and then loved and the clowns forget they mocked

[@Naw662]

The Space Force *will* literally become the largest and most important branch of the military the more we develop our civilization and expand, it's just taking its first steps

[@eaglesviper79]

@@squidward5110 oh thats a fact, but they all mock each other

[@roo72]

Really? Who mocked it, can I see some citations?

[@eaglesviper79]

@@roo72 ok try this it’s called google they still are mocked today. And also high ranking members of the armed forces didn’t see a future in flying during war time situation. But have others do the research for you since you may be to lazy to do it yourself

[@roo72]

@@eaglesviper79 That's not how it works. You made a statement, it's up to you to prove it

[@americanhumaninterferencet7550]

I remember when this happened, my senior thesis had been about space exploration and I was at the time extremely informed on the happenings within the aerospace sector. The creation of the space force didnt surprise me at all and i thought it was a good move and eventually inevitable, space operations has been a career field within the USAF for years. It surprised me how much everyone made fun of it, but it was mostly people who were very uninformed about aerospace and space warfare who were laughing.

[@pyromcr]

Remember, the Space Shuttle was designed to capture satellites.

[@sagewerk5025]

the v2 vibing up there before hitting an empty field south of London "am i not physiclly part of a conflict" Edit: i didnt think i have to say this, this was a cheap joke, i dont acctually think the V2 should count but hoped someone laughted anyway

[@notme5844]

It is but its attack took place on the ground. It enters space to get to its target but its target (the field south of London) is not in space. The Israeli interception rocket's target was in space. If the British launched an anti ballistic missile and shot down the V2 in space, that would count.

[@fiasco2003]

The space part was peaceful. Actually the V2 was thinking, "oh, this is lovely. I wonder what they have planned for the landing?"

[@scottpageusmc]

I worked in the clean room at 22:54 when I was with Lockheed from 2004-2007.

[@NikitaD1314]

I reccomend on the topic : 1) The next 100 years - George Fridman 2) The future of geopolitics - Tim Marshall

[@qfurgie]

i keep getting ads to join the US Space Force

[@user-tx9zg5mz5p]

The Airforce already had complete control over monirtoring space, so there is really no need for the space force...

[@Swiggity369]

And the US Army Air Corps already had aviation handled, right? They did, I'm not trying to say that the USAF was made because the Army sucked, but as the capabilities and strategic necessity of aircraft became more prevalent, the cost, the required infrastructure, and the specific knowledge necessary made it more reasonable to create a new branch of the military dedicated to aviation. And we see the same thing here with the Space Force, the cost, strategic necessity, and the capabilities of satellites in relation to warfare were all explained in the video, so I won't harp on that here. While the Air Force almost certainly had it handled, with the rising likelihood of space warfare, it seems that it has become more reasonable to have a dedicated military branch for it than to leave it to a subset of the Air Force. Additionally, it's not like all of the systems that were previously in place will go unused, just as the Army transferred assets, personnel and locations such as Warren AFB, to the Air Force, they have likely already transferred assets, and personnel to the Space Force, so all of the experts and equipment hasn't been lost.

[@PvttJebus]

I both admire the restraint and am disappointed that you didn't take the opportunity to make a high-ground reference/joke. (know it's more HAI's place, but still, it was right there!)

[@user-px1hg9zk2x]

Dang. Imagine what humanity could accomplish if we all worked together.

[@nathanfay1988]

It would have been much cooler if it were called the Star Force.

[@stevenkaranov6801]

Well not yet, if human could travel to another star then star force would be a thing

[@AzyumardiSuntana]

I still think Space Corps would've been the perfect name

[@AzyumardiSuntana]

Or kept the name Space Command

[@T-Dawg123a]

​@@AzyumardiSuntana yeah but that would have caused confusion as a command is a subset of a military branch.

[@vladimirlenin843]

Astronaut are star sailor already

[@adamleblanc5294]

I am far from a Donald Trump supporter, but will give credit where it's due. The space force was a good long term move.

[@killumanti7749]

I said the same, same thing people were up here defending the cornball comedians, but you know he didn’t do anything amazing but give credit where it is due.

[@irtwiaos]

I don't. All he did was rebrand the thing with a cartoonish name as it is still under the air force.

[@richardwakefield5902]

I know what you mean. Of course the name "Space Force" sounds cartoonish, but the function makes more sense every day.

[@crabman8321]

Literally all the Space Force did was create a branch of the department of the Air Force that does the stuff that the Air Force was already in charge of.

[@longdongvondiqenbaum]

​@crabman8321 the same thing happened with the USAAF, you just don't like that Trump did something useful lmao and I hate the guy

[@Zig_Was_Here]

I’m on my 2nd year of Nebula, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed this video. So awesome! It’s the future!

[@phemstros]

It was an overdue move but a very sound one. I ordered the SF foundational document today, I want to study it. This is going to matter a lot.

[@AngeloXification]

I don't understand why Space Force would be a joke. I saw a really interesting talk by a high ranking general years ago talking about the need for a "Space Force" and isn't it fairly obvious thats where the next front will be. Or was it just cos it was Trump?

[@Drdirtydee]

Cuz trump and air force doesn't want to compete with budget.

[@scragar]

1. The name is just funny. We have the air force, but we don't call the navy the sea force, or the army the land force. Space force just sounds like a ridiculous name. 2. Trump was advocating for it despite whenever he talked about it giving contradictory answers. It made it sound like it was something he wanted credit for without actually knowing anything about what it'd entail. 3. There was already the Air Force Space Command which was doing what Space Force is currently doing, so really the only change was making a new agency despite all the push for it to exist.

[@IFRYRCE]

​@@scragar It's worth noting though that while Air Force Space Command was doing everything the Space Force does now, there is a point somewhere in the hypothetical future where we have space warships, and Air Force Space Command and the Navy would've argued endlessly about who should wind up in command of those, and there are good arguments on both sides frankly. The Navy has more relevant experience operating ships, and especially submarines which are similar to space ships in many ways - but AF Space Command has direct experience with space itself, and the Air Force has collaborated with NASA and it's predecessor since shortly after WW2. By introducing a Space Force, that conflict was resolved before it could happen.

[@Josh-ks7co]

This isn't hard, the name sounds funny. People that try to imply it's more than that are trying to make liberals seem incompetent.

[@AngeloXification]

@@Josh-ks7co does "air" force sound funny? Maybe I'm too boring to find it funny

[@bradlevantis913]

I can’t imagine humans would take such a necessary environment and abuse it to the point where it is polluted so badly that it would….. Never mind

[@AndrewMTGrizzly]

Have you met humans? Lol

[@liroku]

12 minutes, 43 seconds. A new record for me and a Wendover video. I really wish I could enjoy your content; it's right up my alley, but I can't get over the weird pauses in your delivery. Not sure why; I thought I'd eventually get used to it or something, but it rubs my brain the wrong way LOL. I'm probably just brain-damaged or something; keep doing what you do.

[@jeffs1571]

That's wild, their delivery is on the better side of things. There's plenty of creators out there who speak half this speed and then also add 5 second long "dramatic pauses" for effect. I typically listen to their videos at 2x speed. Wendover is right where I expect an announcer to be.

[@prettypic444]

I was at CSUDH when they used the campus to film that stupid Netflix space force show. It was super annoying because they were always closing down parts of the campus for shooting (mostly around the library) so you’d either have to wait for them to stop or go the long way around (both of which are a pain when you only have 10 minutes to get from one side of campus to the other

[@Toast4tw]

I honestly will never understand why people think "Space Force" is so fucking funny when another branch is literally called "Air Force" ????

[@robohand]

They both are funny; it would be even funnier if the Marines were called the Water Force, and the rest of the US military were called the Dirt Force.

[@derAtze]

In Germany the "Air force" is called Luftwaffe which translates to "airweapon". I honestly could not think of another name for it, it is an accurate description after all

[@vaunjeis6751]

Because Trump announced it. That's about it. Look at the media that portrayed it as silly. Just doing their job.

[@robin19972]

Those shows stopped being funny long ago lol. They just press the laugh track buttons on the show, you will be surprised by how many people that don't find any of those shows funny at all.

[@EverettBurger]

Seeking applause, not laughter

[@turtletom8383]

0:18 names the most prolific propagandists

[@Halozocker104]

Thats what i was thinking too, Trump does X, then people whos job it is to ridicule everything trump does ridicule what trump does. And where supposed to what? Be suprised? Cause im not 😂

[@thomaspatnode7053]

KSP really prepared me for this video. It seems like a low-earth orbit requires more energy to go thousands of miles per hour and circle the earth a couple times per hour, but in fact the stationary orbit is way harder to do. There's no good reference for speed other than the surface of earth, which is a relative difference of 0mph, but in fact, it takes waaaay more energy to get to the stationary orbit. Well sure, put a 150 million mile long stick in your hand and spin around. The far end of that stick is BOOKING IT. There's also a really neat way of setting up a network of stationary satellites, you raise your apoapsis to the stationary orbit then lower your periapsis until the Period of your orbit is 1/3 of the local day length. Now, every time you hit apoapsis, you release another satellite (and circularize orbit of course). Congratulations, you now have 3 stationary satellites that are on the same orbit and can probably see each other and, together, can probably see just about all of the planet.

[@AC-im4hi]

And this is why we dont get our news from comedians who dont know anything (or more accurately intern writers that dont know anything)

[@TheDuke4100]

Everyone was so desperate to mock trump and rip the space force. But it still exists now

[@gingeral253]

I really hope humanity isn’t stuck on earth because of idiots with egos.

[@erezofer8267]

ur channel is just so awesome

[@TaylerKnox]

Use of kinetic weapons and explosives is insane. Intercepting to disable function while leaving physically intact is the only way to go. Directed energy weapons and grapple and de orbit weapons are the only way to go. Avoid destruction of the orbital space. It is worth an enormous amount of wealth now and in the future. No matter who survives such a conflict.

[@TroyRubert]

I trust a two-year-old over any of the late-night “comedians.”

[@anj3000]

They would take it serious if Biden announced it

[@zer0neverer098]

A caveat for now is that the entire development seems somewhat similar to early plane development ie. first development being recon, so it's entirely possible that in the next single generation, you may witness space bomber satellites.

[@HobbesNJoe]

Instead of destroying in orbit, capture and de-orbit. Military objective obtained, maintains a pristine orbital environment.

[@mattzilch5150]

The fact that the late night show hosts were so dismissive shows how poorly equipped they are to play the role of social commentators that they purport to be.

[@ronp-eb9bh]

So true. They're nothing more than uninformed talking heads who have never had to work in the national security arena - and it's gigantic.

[@adamstevens3263]

They just didn't watch enough star wars

[@adamstevens3263]

They just didn't watch enough starwars

[@Igneusflama]

To be fair, space force is kind of a stupid name...

[@stevenkidd6761]

Pseudo intellectual babble there Bubba. They don't purport to be social commentators. They're comedians. Comedians make fun of stupid people and things. Space Force was the dumbest damn name that could have been applied. Are you sure you don't harbor ill will towards the shows? It seems like you just jumped on the opportunity to put down late night shows.

[@marianpazdzioch6632]

Trump could have said "you need to wash your hand after using bathroom" and those so called "comedians" would have been laughing at him like it's the stupidest thing to say. Years later, and Space Force is alive and well, while most of those "comedians" are out of work - and that's comedy :)

[@joshuapatrick682]

Remember when youtube was chock full of videos about the “black knight satellite”? Ah, the good ole days….

[@joshuapatrick682]

GPS is “vitally important” yet we managed to exist for our entire collective history without it. Things are only “vitally important” when you build your world around them.

[@jimbarino2]

You could say the same about electricity, and I am sure many did up to the 1920s or so...

[@blueskiestrevor5200]

The only reason everyone made fun of Space Force was because of Trump. If Obama had done it, people would call him a military genius and forward thinker.

[@letsgobrandon416]

It was really disgusting to see how politics so grossly denigrated the creation of what will become our most strategically important military branch.

[@Ice_Karma]

19:51 What happened in about 2015, that the rate of space debris production/accumulation started to get steeper and steeper, even before Russia's 2021 test? 🙀

[@ptronic]

They made fun of trump even when he was 100% right

[@hashbrown777]

No, they're making fun of the name. Air force doesn't sound weird, but instead of navy if you were to say "water force" you're going to get laughed at. Now it's the official title ostensibly because of Trump's renowned [lack of] command over the English language

[@hashbrown777]

Also it's stupid to attribute the Force itself to him, a tonne of countries, including the US have had space commands for decades