US cannot stop China’s innovation advancements

It would appear that the US is seriously worried about China’s technological advancements. Fearing the loss of the last comparative advantage over the Asian superpower has caused a genuine concern over national defense and competitiveness among America’s ruling elite.

The US using every possible means to curb Asia’s technological rise, including the banning of sales of essential chips to ZTE for seven years, invoking Section 301 of the Trade Act to investigate China’s “unfair trade practices” and barring investment in the information-technology sector. The Donald Trump administration’s target might be the Asian power’s “Made in China 2025”, a strategy meant to make China self-sufficient in an array of technologies.

The 301 investigation was meant to slow down China’s technological advancements by imposing stiff tariffs on a host of Chinese imports and barring the sales of US technology to Chinese firms. In addition, the anti-China faction of the US Congress and the Trump administration have barred Chinese investment in technology sectors.

Galileo grows: two more satellites join working constellation

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Two further satellites have formally become part of Europe’s Galileo satnav system, broadcasting timing and navigation signals worldwide while also picking up distress calls across the planet.

These are the 15th and 16th satellites to join the network, two of the four Galileos that were launched together by Ariane 5 on 17 November, and the first additions to the working constellation since the start of Galileo Initial Services on 15 December.

EU environment and science money moved to military fund

As said oft in the past, and as early as 2013, the EU is the next world superpower to take the stage. Despite the difficulties it’s facing, the solution to all of its problems brought forth by the eurocrats is always further integration. It may very well still break up, but there will be a core leftover. The United States of Europe is around the corner, led by Germany’s Fourth Reich under an EU guise, along with its European Army.

 

Preparation of the launch of a Galileo satellite in 2014 (Photo: European Space Agency)

 

The European Commission is proposing to finance parts of its proposed defence fund with money originally allocated to energy, environmental and scientific programmes.

The EU’s executive announced its plan to subsidise research and procurement of high-end defence technologies on Wednesday (7 June), but the origin of the money has gone largely under-reported.

In 2019 and 2020, the commission wants to redirect €145 million that was originally allocated to the Connecting Europe Facility, a programme aimed at integrating European energy markets, increasing energy security, protecting the environment, and promoting interoperability of digital service infrastructures.

Europe’s Newly Launched Satellite Navigation System is Precise down to a few Centimeters

A major part of the European Army’s military infrastructure is now up and running, and is maybe already being tested by spying on Israeli settlements.

For further information, see the following previous posts:

The EU’s Covert Military Satellite Program

Europe Launches Key Galileo Satellites

 

We tend to use “GPS” the way we use “Kleenex” or “Band-Aid”—as a brand name substitute for the generic “satellite navigation system.” But the Global Positioning System is actually quite specific: It’s a constellation of 27 satellites and a global network of control facilities on the ground developed and operated by the Defense Department.

There are other sat-nav systems, though, and since 2011, most sat-nav consumer devices, including Apple’s and Samsung’s, have receivers for both the U.S. GPS and Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System, or GLONASS—a 24-satellite network operated by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. (There are other regional systems, like the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System and China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System; but GPS and GLONASS are the only fully global networks.)

The Urgency of Modernizing Satellite Control Infrastructure

Moreover, the GPS system that the American military and society in the United States relies upon, is also nearing its expiration date and risks complete collapse. Meanwhile, China and Russia are deploying their own advanced GPS-like systems, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and GLONASS, respectively. America’s GPS infrastructure was banned from Russian territory on June 1st of 2014. Europe has also created its own GPS-like system, Galileo, which like the previous has both commercial and military use.

If you haven’t noticed yet, there is a new inevitable chapter in world history that is post-America being opened up — and it is right around the corner. We’re talking from months (maybe even weeks) to two or three years away. Whether America itself as we know it will survive the transition to see it remains to be seen. For the most part, at this moment, its adversaries and so-called allies are making moves that want a world without America.

 

The satellite infrastructure that the DoD relies on for operational awareness is inefficient and is badly in need of modernization. The status quo isn’t acceptable, and changes must begin now.

Those aren’t my words, although I agree with them strongly. It’s the message contained in a memorandum dated July 29th sent by General John Hyten, Commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, to senior subordinates. As reported in this recent story from Space News, emerging threats from other powers and budget constraints are prompting the DoD to leverage commercial efficiencies and to adopt a common ground infrastructure.