Major global powers, including Russia, China and the United States, are actively developing anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities, ranging from kinetic interceptors to non-kinetic systems such as high-power microwaves (HPM), lasers, cyber and electronic warfare. These technologies pose a direct threat to critical orbital infrastructure.

More than 13,000 operational satellites and tens of thousands of tracked objects are already present in Earth orbit, with the number growing rapidly due to large commercial and governmental constellations.

Today’s satellite protection relies almost exclusively on passive measures (maneuvering, redundancy) or kinetic responses, which are costly, escalatory and poorly scalable in a congested orbital environment.

Inspector and co-orbital satellites capable of close-approach maneuvers introduce the risk of physical interference, electronic disruption or sabotage of satellites in orbit, significantly increasing strategic uncertainty.

Air, land and maritime systems — including autonomous drones and swarm platforms — are fundamentally dependent on space-based navigation, communication and sensing. Loss of access to orbital systems can paralyze precision weapons, command and control, and situational awareness, making space protection the critical first layer of modern defense.