Both Van Kleef and Bolder emphasize the military importance of space travel. Not just in the form of one shared early warningsystem that warns against hypersonic weapons, but in fact in all areas where communication or positioning is used. “Without space travel, there would be no GPS or satellite communications,” says Van Kleef.
Although the MoD has only had a serious space agenda with an accompanying budget since last year, the Royal Netherlands Air Force has been developing a space capability with its own resources for years. Neither Bolder nor Van Kleef consider it an unnecessary luxury that the Department of Defense is now handling it. “We don’t have any yet Space commandbut steps are being taken to expand that capacity.
China
Despite scarce resources, Dutch space technology appears to be a highly sought-after must-have for China, for example. The MIVD report that appeared in mid-April stated that China has made several attempts to obtain Dutch military personnel and space technology. ‘In the Netherlands we are also now working on satellite communication, but then with laser. This is a very interesting new technology for the Chinese as well,” says Bolder.
‘We have very smart people designing very beautiful things’
This technology is quite crucial given the growing importance of satellites. Not only to spy on people, systems or even radars on Earth, but also to thwart or stop spying on other satellites. Satellite technology also plays an important role in thwarting or detecting cyber attacks.
“Laser communication, cyberattack detection, that’s exactly what the Chinese are after,” says Van Kleef. “Combining with quantum technology is also part of that.” Bolder estimates that there are currently about 8,000 satellites swarming Earth, and by the end of this decade, there will be between 60,000 and 100,000.
Civil parties
A new development in the transition to satellite warfare or espionage is the mixing with commercial civilian parts such as Starlink from the American space company SpaceX. For example, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Medvedev recently said that American satellites, including those of civilian agencies, are valid military targets for him.
Not entirely wrong from the Russian point of view: When the Russians destroyed or disrupted Ukrainian communications equipment early in the war, SpaceX offered Kiev its Starlink constellation, along with a bunch of antennas to receive signals from that constellation. . “Without this, Ukraine would not have been able to organize its defense coherently in Ukraine and would simply have defected,” Bolder says.
“Laser communication, cyber attack detection, that’s exactly what the Chinese are after”
Hijack satellites
Recently leaked Pentagon documents show China is developing cyberweapons that allow it to hijack enemy satellites, disrupt communications and disable weapons. Van Kleef Bolder qualifies him as a serious threat because such hijack the parties are denied access to their own space resources. ‘If they start spoofing our media, can you imagine not having any communication anymore? Then not only are we blind, we can no longer send messages. They can also eavesdrop on us.”
Listen to the complete episode of De Strateeg here