Emerging space treats and satellites

Abstract

For over 20 years Martin Gardner wrote “Mathematical Games and Recreations,” a monthly column for Scientific American magazine in which he inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to delve into the large world of mathematics. In one of his columns (January, 2007), he glossed over the issue of anti-satellite weaponry. In a few basic lines of Physics and a computer simulation, one is able to ‘illustrate’ the feeling that the space, while critical in the sense of critical infrastructure, is readily vulnerable. At this point in this book, the reader is expected to know our evolving issue of critical infrastructures, key resources, and key assets (CIKRKA) complemented by the open bazaar of critical infrastructures of space; undersea; and belowground as suggested in Chap. 1. This chapter is purposefully designed to illustrate a gaming approach, using readily available resources, to hinder operability and even destroy satellite systems. [A variation of this research appears in the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures (see Gheorghe and Vamanu in Int J Crit Infrastruct 3:457–470, 2007).]