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Photo: NASA via Surfer Today

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China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported that the exercises will unfold in multiple phases. Initially, the two sides will engage in desktop simulations. Subsequently, Chinese and Russian naval fleets will conduct joint exercises in the sea and airspace near Zhanjiang. These operations will encompass joint reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, anti-missile operations, and air defense maneuvers.

This naval cooperation unfolds against a backdrop of mounting tensions between China and NATO allies. At their July 9-11 Washington summit, NATO members designated China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine, citing the two nations’ “no-holds-barred partnership” and China’s support for the Russian defense industry. The alliance also voiced concerns about Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and space capabilities. The final communiqué, endorsed by all 32 NATO members, clearly signals that China is becoming a focal point for the military alliance:

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies continue to challenge our interests, security and values. The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the PRC and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order, are a cause for profound concern. We are confronted by hybrid, cyber, space, and other threats and malicious activities from state and non-state actors.

In response, China accused NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and cautioned against introducing “chaos” to Asia, while reiterating its neutrality on the Ukraine conflict.

China’s Defense Ministry recently disclosed that Chinese and Russian naval vessels had completed their fourth joint maritime patrol in the western and northern Pacific Ocean.

From Jurist, July 14. Used with permission.

Note: China-Russia joint exercises have become more frequent in recent years.

Map: Google

The draft resolution received 13 votes in favor, with one abstention from China.

The resolution sought to reaffirm the principles set out in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty—or, more formally, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. Article Three of the treaty obliges state parties to explore outer space in the interest of maintaining international peace and security. Article Four further compels states to “not place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction.”

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield called the move by Russia “baffling,” and asked rhetorically: “Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding?”

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya dismissed the resolution as a “cynical ploy” and “absolutely absurd and politicized.” Nebenzya maintained that Russia “remains committed to its obligations in outer space under international law.” He also announced that Russia plans to submit an alternative draft resolution soon.

The draft resolution was announced after the US accused Russia in February of developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon to put in space. This could potentially disrupt everything from military communications to phone-based services. President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s ministry of defense have denied the accusations, stating that Russia is against the any deployment of nuclear weapons in space.

From Jurist, Apri 25. Used with permission.

Note: The resoution follows growing nuclear threats from Russian officials, the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, and Moscow’s withdrawal from numerous arms-control agreements.

Photo via University of Portsmouth

The destruction of the Brazilian Amazon accelerated dramatically under the previous right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro.

Photo: Mongabay

The plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity. the American Bird Conservancy and the Carrizo Nation of Texas. The lawsuit asks the US District Court for the District of Columbiato hold that the FAA violated NEPA, and revoke SpaceX’s vehicle operator license.

The Center for Biological Diversity explained the potential environmental impacts:

Rocket launches and explosions cause significant harm through increased vehicle traffic and the intense heat, noise, and light pollution from construction and launch activities. Rocket explosions spread debris across surrounding habitat and have caused brush fires. The Boca Chica area is one of the most biologically diverse regions in North America.

The complaint also alleged that SpaceX’s launches have negatively impacted the community by causing the occasional closure of nearby Boca Chica Beach.

From Jurist, May 2. Use with permission.

Photo: Carrizo Nation of Texas

Both utopian and dystopian visions of space colonization were explored by Ursula K. Le Guin—the latter providing likely inspiration for James Cameron‘s hit movie Avatar. The utopian vision was first charted by the early Bolshevik writers Yevgeny Zamyatin in We and Alexander Bogdanov in Red Star. It was generations later embraced in rock music of the hippie era—most notably the Jefferson Starship and Black Sabbath. The perils of looking to space for human salvation have been explored in fictional form from Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis (1939) to The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (2007). The critique was also put forth by Lewis in expository form in his 1958 essay “Religion & Rocketry“—in which he paradoxically takes a Christian moralist path to an anti-imperialist position on the space question which is more truly progressive than that of many “leftists.”

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Image altered from NASA

But the US State Department charged that the new debris field does pose a danger to the space station. “This test will significantly increase the risk to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station, as well as to other human spaceflight activities,” State Department representative Ned Price told reporters. “Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior jeopardizes the long-term sustainability of our space and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s claims of opposing the weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical.”

US Space Command chief Gen. James Dickinson added: “The debris created by Russia’s DA-ASAT will continue to pose a threat to activities in outer space for years to come, putting satellites and space missions at risk, as well as forcing more collision avoidance maneuvers. Space activities underpin our way of life and this kind of behavior is simply irresponsible.”

Russia carried out the ASAT test from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, about 800 kilometers north of Moscow. The missile destroyed an old Soviet spy satellite, called Kosmos 1408, that was once part of Russia’s Tselina radio signals surveillance program. Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Vladimir Dvorkin, former head of the 4th Central Research Institute (TsNII) of the Russian Defense Ministry, stated: “There is no direct violation of any international agreements. And we should not warn anyone when we test our systems—anti-missile or anti-satellite. We are not obliged to warn anyone about this, there is nothing like that.”

But Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation, a US-based group focused on space policy issues, commented on social media that Russia is bound by Article 9 of the Outer Space Treaty, which states that parties undertaking activities in space shall do so “with due regard” to the interests of other parties of the treaty, and take due measures to avoid “harmful contamination.” (The Verge, SpaceNews, The Diplomat, BBC News)

Hundreds of millions of pieces of “space junk” orbit the Earth daily, from chips of old rocket paint, to shards of solar panels, and entire dead satellites. This cloud of high-tech detritus spins around the planet at about 17,500 miles per hour. At these speeds, even pieces as small as a pebble can rip through a passing spacecraft. NASA and the US Defense Department are using ground-based telescopes and laser radars (ladars) to track more than 17,000 “orbital debris objects” to prevent collisions with operating missions. (MIT News)

Image: MIT News

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The tracking facility in southern Neuquén occasioned protests when construction began in 2015. News site InfoBae just reported on replies to its questions about the facility received from Argentina's National Commission of Space Activities (CONAE). It was confirmed that last month, a high-level delegation visited the facility from China Launch and Tracking Control General (CLTC), the Xian Satellite Control Center (XSCC), Beijing Aerospace Command Center (BACC) and the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunication Technology (BITTT). These agencies, which jointly oversee the Bajada del Agrio facility, are all subordinate to the PLA's General Armaments Department (GAD), as confirmed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative project. Global Security website indicates that the GAD recently changed its name to the Equipment Development Department.

The delegation publicly praised the role of the Bajada del Agrio facility in the Chang'e 4 lunar probe. In response to InfoBae's questions, CONAE insisted that the facility is akin to that operated by the European Space Agency at Malargüe, in Mendoza province. But InfoBae, citing EU and US diplomatic sources, countered that "there is a big difference between the space station at Malargüe and that at Neuquén: that of the EU depends on a civil agency, while that at Bajada del Agrio receives orders directly from the People's Army of China.

The 50-year concession for the facility was granted by the previous (left-wing) government of Cristina Kirchner, and has been honored by the new (right-wing) President Mauricio Macri. Argentine media commentator Jorge Lanata noted that both governments, "under pressure from the United States, made clear to the Chinese that the station will only be for peaceful, not military, use. But the tecnicians who manage it answer directly to the Chinese People's Army." (El Trece, Nov. 4)

InfoBae noted last February, when the installation first went operational: "Only personnel authorized by Beijing (military and members of the Chinese regime) will have access to the facilities. No Argentine will be able to enter to supervise works, or to know what happens in the mysterious property."

Perfil reports that CONAE may "obtain data" from the antenna at Bajada del Agrio for one hour and 40 minutes each day, although it is unclear if their personnel may actually access the facility. 

During President Xi Jinping's state visit in November, Argentina also announced an agreement on Chinese-financed construction of the Atucha III nuclear power plant, in Buenos Aires province, the South American nation's fourth. (Reuters, Nov. 28)

Bolivia entered into its own coperation pact with China Great Wall Industry in 2010.

Photo via InfoBae