Tag: China

Moon Mining Is Gaining Traction, But is Still Far Off

August 15, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Luke Burgess August 4, 2021 (outsiderclub.com)

• Many have speculated that “space mining” will soon move out of the realm of fiction and into our future reality. Last year, President Trump signed an executive order stating America’s right to explore and use resources from the mining of resources on an asteroid, the Earth’s Moon, a moon of a nearby planet, or one of the nearby planets themselves. But there are realities that will postpone off-Earth mining for decades to come.

• The Moon is rich in metals like iron, aluminum, and titanium. But all of these are also found in great quantities on Earth. Going to the Moon to mine them would be like diving to the bottom of the ocean for a glass of water. According to experts, the Moon’s most critical resources are water, rare earth elements, and helium-3. Water would be useful for lunar agriculture or fuel, but certainly not worth bringing back to Earth. And ‘rare earth elements’ are about as common as most base metals on in the Earth’s crust.

• While 90% of the world’s rare Earth elements are mined in China, the main problem for rare earth production is we simply don’t have good technologies to commercially process these elements from different types of ore yet. Also, rare Earth elements production carries serious environmental risks.

• Helium-3 may be the only resource worth bringing back to Earth for now. Helium-3 is a very rare gas that has the potential to be used as a fuel in future nuclear fusion. But what about the cost of getting there and back? Up until very recently, the expected cost of sending just one pound of material into orbit was over $10,000. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle has drastically brought down those cost expectations, and the company’s Smallsat Rideshare Program is aiming to reduce the cost of mass payloads into a sun-synchronous orbit for $1 million — or $2,500 per pound. But this is still far from economical. For example, if someone were so inclined to put a bulldozer into orbit for whatever reason, it would cost around $50 million. It would cost much more to get a dozer on the Moon to conduct a mining operation.

• Let’s imagine for a moment that a world-changing technology drastically reduces the cost of payload launch to pennies, so that the cost of transporting anything to the Moon is equal to transporting it on Earth. Mining isn’t just showing up and digging. Different types of surveys and mapping need to be completed, and the ideal location must be identified before exploration can begin. On Earth, the process can take five to 10 years. So even if someone started on a project to commercially mine on the Moon today, it would take at least a decade for anything to actually be produced.

• Still, expect human beings to continue to push the space industry forward to improve our day-to-day lives on Earth. Just recently, a group of visionaries walked away from top-level positions at Apple, Amazon, SpaceX, and Tesla to join a small start-up company that’s aiming to create the first daily space delivery service in history. This firm builds rockets faster and 50 times smaller than anyone else in the industry. Says Jason Simpkins, investment director of Wall Street’s Proving Ground, “According to my calculations, this company’s enterprise value could grow 8,933% very soon… even if it captures just a modest share of this market.”

The idea of extraterrestrial mining has been around for more than a century. In the 1898 landmark sci-fi novel Edison’s Conquest of Mars, Garrett Serviss’ main characters come across aliens mining an asteroid made of solid gold.

And for decades since, science fiction writers have used asteroid and moon mining as plot devices — from the golden-age sci-fi greats like Isaac Asimov and Richard Heinlein, to modern authors Andy Weir and James S. A. Corey, to big budget Hollywood films “Avatar” (2009) and the “Alien” series (1979–present).

Over the past few years, many have speculated that “space mining” will soon move out of the realm of fiction and into our future reality. Last year the concept was even politicized by then-president Trump when he signed an executive order which stated America’s right

to explore and use resources from outer space. Then, just a month ago, the idea of extraterrestrial mining was reinvigorated with Jeff Bezos’ rocket stunt.

Yet as exciting as the whole idea is — to blast off the Earth to mine new mineral resources — I think it’s important to consider the realities of what extraterrestrial mining will actually require in practice. Because those realities will postpone off-Earth mining for decades to come. Let me explain, but first things first…

Let’s clear up some language…

“Space mining”… Technically speaking, we’re already mining in space. In fact, human beings have never not mined in space. The Earth is flying around in what we call “space.” We’re in space right now. So what we’re really talking about is better called “extraterrestrial mining”… mining that’s done anywhere but Earth.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

Rep. André Carson Calls for Public Hearing on UFOs

July 9, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Celine Castronuovo July 4, 2021 (thehill.com)

• On July 4th, Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) (pictured above), chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation, was on the CBS news show “Face the Nation”. The discussion turned to the newly released unclassified government report on UFOs which Carson admitted was largely “inconclusive” on the origins of more than 140 unidentified flying objects that the US military has observed since 2004. (see 5 minute video below)

• Carson called on Congress to hold hearings on reported UFOs. “My hope … is that we will have a series of hearings and possibly a public hearing in the very near future,” Carson said, though he did not give a specific timeline. “What we do know is that … there have been nearly 150 (UFO) sightings. Eighty of those sightings have been detected with some of the best technology the world has ever seen.”

• The UAP Task Force report noted that many UFO sightings have occurred near US military assets, our naval bases, our military installations. One of the possible explanations for the still unidentified UFOs could be advanced technologies developed by U.S. adversaries such as China or Russia. “We don’t want our adversaries to have … a technological advance over us in terms of what they can do with their capabilities,” Carson said, warranting concern and the need for further investigation. But Carson added that sightings around US military bases may result from a ‘collection bias’ due to “focused attention, greater numbers of latest-generation sensors operating in those areas, unit expectations, and guidance to report anomalies.”

• Finally, Carson admitted that government officials “can’t rule out something that’s otherworldly” in a small percentage of cases. It would be “arrogant to say that there isn’t life out there,” said the Congressman. “If it is otherworldly, we have to take into account our advancements in terms of our cellphone technology and why aren’t these images being captured? We have to think about the nearly 4,000 satellites that are orbiting the Earth right now. Most of those satellites have cameras attached to them. Why hasn’t any of that information been released?”

• [Editor’s Note] Congressman André Carson claims not to know why there isn’t more information available on UFOs or if they even exist. Two possible explanations why Carson seems to be so out of touch with reality might be: 1) Carson knows full-well about the long-standing extraterrestrial presence around our world and our government’s ongoing interaction with a number of different ET beings since at least WWII, but he has been told to play dumb so as not to cause a public panic; or 2) Carson really is ignorant of the most important reality in human history due to a lack of any intellectual curiosity whatsoever.

Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation, is calling on Congress to hold a “series of hearings” on reported UFOs following last month’s highly anticipated release of an intelligence report on the subject.

The congressman said in interview Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that because the newly unclassified report on UFOs, referred to by the Pentagon as “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP), was largely “inconclusive” on the origins of more than 140 objects, additional probes are needed.

“My hope … is that we will have a series of hearings and possibly a public hearing in the very near future,” Carson said, though he did not give a specific timeline.

“What we do know is that … there have been nearly 150 sightings,” he added. “Eighty of those sightings have been detected with some of the best technology the world has ever seen.”

While Carson said officials “can’t rule out something that’s otherworldly,” he added that was possible in only a “very small percentage” of cases.

Last month’s highly anticipated UAP report said that nearly all of the 144 such encounters documented by the U.S. government since 2004 remained a mystery, though the Office of Naval Intelligence’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force was able to confirm that one of the objects was a “large, deflating balloon.”

One of the possible explanations included in the report was that the UAP could be advanced technologies developed by U.S. adversaries such as China or Russia, potentially posing a national security threat.

5:05 minute clip of André Carson on CBS news show (‘Face the Nation’ YouTube)

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

UAPTF Report: UFOs Are Real. Now What?

July 4, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Jazz Shaw June 26, 2021 (nationalreview.com)

• NOW that we’ve had some time to absorb the release of the long-awaited UAP Task Force report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), let’s try to wrap our heads around what the report actually said. First of all, the public version of the report was painfully short. The classified report given to Congressional Intelligence and Armed Services committees is ten times longer. The Department of Defense and intelligence community really don’t like talking about this subject. DoD officials say that even getting that nine page unclassified public report out of the Pentagon was an exercise in ‘pulling teeth’.

• Still, there were important admissions made in the UAPTF report. First, the vast majority of UFO incidents they studied “probably do represent physical objects” as they were usually identified on multiple avenues of sensory data, in addition to testimony from pilots and technicians who watch the skies for a living.

• Second, the ODNI conceded that out of 144 UFO incident reports, they were able to conclusively identify only one of them as a deflated balloon. They simply don’t know what the rest of them are. The government claims that it isn’t American technology (although many people have no faith in this statement). The report goes on to say that there is no evidence that these UFOs indicate a major technological advancement by a potential adversary either.

• The report notes that most of the reported UFO sightings took place in controlled airspace, in the midst of our naval battle groups and even over military facilities in mainland North America. If there were the slightest indication that those things came from Russia or China and were showing up over our testing range in Nevada or Montana, our real-world military would be at least trying to shoot them down. But our top pilots say that these UFOs ‘leave our Super Hornet (jets) in the dust’. Commander David Fravor who saw the Tic Tac UFO in 2004 said that if the UFO had been hostile, he never would have stood a chance.

• Third, the report states, “Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion,” ie: flight-control surfaces, rotors, exhaust ports, or wings. As for acceleration speed of the UFOs, pilots describe them as ‘simply disappearing’. This suggests anti-gravity technology. It is not a stretch to assume that our military has this technology, and so do our Earthly adversaries.

• There is plenty of substance to the publicly declassified report. Our government has been studying these things for more than 70 years. The scrutiny has intensified over the past decade and new policies encourage the reporting of anomalous encounters rather than punishing anyone who mentions them. Following the release of the report, the deputy secretary of Defense issued a memorandum instructing both military and government personnel to report any UFO sightings and ordering the creation of better methods of receiving, recording, and analyzing such data.

• So where does that leave us? Has the US government switched from a policy of denying the existence of UFOs to one of trying to gaslight us all into believing in them to a limited degree? Whatever they might be — they are out there. They almost certainly are not the property of our government, our allies or our adversaries. Eliminating those Earthly sources, we’re quickly running out of candidates.

NOW that we’ve all had some time to absorb the release of the long-awaited UAP Task Force report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), it’s probably a good idea to try to wrap our heads around what the report actually said. Perhaps even more to the point, we should make note of what it did not say, this being a subject that seems to elude some of the reporters who are relatively new to the entire UFO phenomenon. And yes, many of us are going to stubbornly continue to use “UFO” no matter how hard the U.S. government tries to get us to say “UAP” so everyone won’t sound quite so crazy.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the public version of the report was short. Painfully short when compared with some of the aspirational dreams of the faithful in ufology. The classified report given to appropriate congressional committees (Intelligence and Armed Services) is reportedly ten times longer and contains all manner of goodies, but we may never see those. Reliable testimony from former Defense Department officials suggests that even getting that slim report out of the Pentagon for the public was an exercise in pulling teeth. They really don’t like talking about this subject.

None of this should be taken to mean that the report was a dud. There were important admissions made by the ODNI on Friday. One of the first was that the vast majority of “UAP” incidents they studied “probably do represent physical objects.” They draw this conclusion from the fact that most were picked up using multiple avenues of sensory data, in addition to testimony from pilots and technicians who watch the skies for a living. So it’s not just swamp gas, “ball lightning,” or birds. And if you’ve seen one, you may not be crazy. (Or if you are, it’s not because of this.)

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

NATO Mutual Defense Pact to Add Space Attacks

June 27, 2021
ExoNews Editor

June 14, 2021 (abc.net.au)

• Around 2,000 satellites orbit the Earth, and over half of them are operated by NATO countries, ensuring everything from mobile phone and banking services to weather forecasts. Military commanders rely on some of these satellites to navigate, communicate, share intelligence and detect missile launches. Around 80 countries have satellites, with private companies are moving in as well. In the 1980s, just a fraction of NATO’s communications was via satellite. Today, it’s at least 40 per cent.

• Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty states that attacks on any one of the 30 NATO allies will be considered an attack on all of them. NATO’s collective defense clause has applied to military attacks on land, sea, or in the air, and more recently in cyberspace. It has only been activated once, when the members rallied behind the US following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

• Many NATO member countries are concerned about what they say is increasingly aggressive behavior in space by China and Russia. In December 2019, NATO leaders declared space to be the alliance’s “fifth domain” of operations, after land, sea, air and cyberspace. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (pictured above) said that “any attack on space capabilities, like satellites and so on or attacks from space, will or could trigger Article 5 …which states that an attack on one will be regarded as an attack on all – that we all will respond.”

• Former US President Donald Trump raised deep concern among US allies, notably those bordering Russia like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, when he suggested that he might not rally to their side if they didn’t boost their defense budgets. Since occupying the office, Biden has tried to reassure them of America’s commitment to its European allies. Trump also ordered the creation of the US Space Force, which was launched in 2019. “Space is the world’s new war-fighting domain,” said Trump.

**NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg**

NATO leaders are set to expand the use of their all-for-one, one-for-all, collective

defence clause to include attacks in space, the military organisation’s top civilian official says.

Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty states that attacks on any one of the 30 allies will be considered an attack on all of them.

So far, it has only applied to military attacks on land, sea, or in the air, and more recently in cyberspace.

“I think it is important [with] our Article 5, which states that an attack on one will be regarded as an attack on all, that we all will respond,” NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said.

“We will make it clear at this summit that, of course, any attack on space capabilities like satellites and so on or attacks from space will or could trigger Article 5,” he said, a few hours before chairing a summit with US President Joe Biden and his counterparts.

Around 2,000 satellites orbit the Earth, over half operated by NATO countries, ensuring everything from mobile phone and banking services to weather forecasts.

Military commanders rely on some of them to navigate, communicate, share intelligence and detect missile launches.

In December 2019, NATO leaders declared space to be the alliance’s “fifth domain” of operations, after land, sea, air and cyberspace.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Elizondo Insists That UFOs Aren’t Ours, Theirs, or Alien

June 25, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Bhaswati Guha Majumder June 10, 2021 (swarajyamag.com)

• Luis Elizondo (pictured above), the former head of the Pentagon’s UFO research program, told the Washington Post that UFOs have frequently rendered our nuclear weapons unusable. “We’ve had incidents where these UAPs have interfered and actually brought offline our nuclear capabilities.” Given the fact that nuclear technologies in the US are being phased out, some might say this is a good thing. But Elizondo says that he has data showing that UFOs have actually put nukes online in other countries, which is “just as concerning”. At any rate, these UFOs certainly have an interest in America’s nuclear technology, and have the capacity to tamper with it.

• Elizondo noted that UFOs also have some sort of connection with, and have a tendency to be seen in and around water.

• Elizondo then turned the subject to UFO’s hypersonic velocity and their ability to change directions instantly. “[H]uman beings can withstand about 9 G forces or some of our best aircraft can withstand about 16 Gs. These things are doing 3-, 4-, 600 Gs in mid-flight,” he said. And at these hypersonic speeds, they can make a 90 degree turn. “To put that into context, our SR-71 Blackbird when at 3,200 miles an hour wants to take a right-hand turn, it takes roughly half the state of Ohio to do it,” said Elizondo.

• According to Elizondo, the third main technological capacity found among UFOs is cloaking technology.

• Elizondo’s remarks came after a sneak peek at a Pentagon assessment on UFOs, which is due to be disclosed by June 25th, which purportedly revealed no concrete evidence of extraterrestrial technology underpinning the bizarre aerial phenomena. If it isn’t alien technology, then that leaves two alternatives. Either this is secret US technology that we’ve managed to keep secret even from ourselves, or Russia and/or China have leap-frogged our own technological development, which has escaped the attention of our entire intelligence apparatus.

• Elizondo says that the new Pentagon investigation will rule out the possibility that these UFO sightings are linked to US technology. Furthermore, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe announced definitively that this is not Russian technology.

• So, that leaves China. But Chinese officials recently stated that the Chinese military is now using artificial intelligence to investigate UFOs after being “overwhelmed” by UFO reports. It is unnatural for an authoritarian state like China to admit to a lack of control over national security matters, said Marik von Rennenkampff, a former analyst with the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the US Department of State. And it is not likely to be part of a deception campaign by Beijing. According to von Rennenkampff, China is equally baffled by some of the same UFO events as the United States. China has struggled to produce engines for its fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that they have managed to develop flying saucers.

• Elizondo pointed out that there have been reports of UFO sightings since the 1950s. It doesn’t make sense that in 1950 China would have mastered this beyond next-generation technology to be able to fly anywhere on the face of the planet, but has managed to keep it as a secret for 70 years. Also, China has a habit of stealing technology from the US. “So, one has to ask the question that if…a country had this technology, would it be necessary to steal…much more basic technology from another country?”

• [Editor’s Note] Oh, well if the government says that the US doesn’t possess UFO technology, then that’s good enough for me. The US government/ military industrial complex/ deep state would never lie to us, would they? The US intelligence community would never use the Senate Committee’s report to further the deep state’s agenda of hiding the fact that the US government has secretly possessed extraterrestrial anti-gravity electromagnetic propulsion and cloaking technology since the 1950s, would they? Of course not. And a former CIA counter-intelligence official like Elizondo would never be a part of that agenda, would he? So the mind-controlled, brain-dead American public will simply have to accept that the UFOs we’ve seen are not ours, not theirs, and not alien in origin. And if they did not come from anywhere, then they must not exist at all. The only answer then is mass hallucination. This makes perfect sense. Thank you Lue for clearing that up.

Luis Elizondo, the former director of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), said in a recent interview that unidentified flying objects or UFOs have frequently rendered nuclear weapons unusable in the United States.

While referring to UFOs by their official Pentagon term, Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), Elizondo told Washington Post: “We’ve had incidents where these UAPs have interfered and actually brought offline our nuclear capabilities”.

“I think to some they would probably say, well, that’s a sign that whatever this is, is something that is peaceful,” Elizondo said of the fact that nuclear technologies in the United States are being phased out.

“But in the same context, we also have data suggesting that in other countries these things have interfered with their nuclear technology and actually turned them on, put them online. So that is equally, for me, just as concerning,” he added.

According to his understanding, there is enough evidence at this point to show that there is an interest in America’s nuclear technology, as well as the capacity to tamper with it.

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), which was formed last summer by the Pentagon to examine odd aerial phenomena, has taken the role of the now-defunct AATIP.

The former AATIP director claimed that there are some common traits among UFO sightings.

“We see an interest in our nuclear capabilities, and then we have this really bizarre…I don’t know if you call it an interest, but there seems to be a connection with water, and these things have a tendency to be seen in and around water,” said Elizondo.

He also shared other observations on the technological capabilities implied by UFO sightings.

Elizondo told the American news outlet: “The first is hypersonic velocity. The ability to change directions instantly”.

“And when I say instantly, I mean human beings can withstand about 9 G forces or some of our best aircraft can withstand about 16 Gs. These things are doing 3-, 4-, 600 Gs in mid-flight,” he added.

He also noted UFOs’ hypersonic speeds.

Elizondo explained that “you know, there are [some known human] technologies that can go that fast, but then again, you don’t expect a hypersonic aircraft to do a 90-degree turn”.

“To put that into context, our SR-71 Blackbird when at 3,200 miles an hour wants to take a right-hand turn, it takes roughly half the state of Ohio to do it,” he added.

According to him, the third main technological capacity found among UFOs is cloaking technology.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

UFOs Have Been Menacing the US for 70 Years Says Elizondo

June 20, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Katie Balevic June 5 2021 (the-sun.com)

• Top US officials were pre-briefed on the Pentagon’s report that is due for release by the end of this month. In short, US intelligence cannot explain over 120 documented UFO sightings.

• Fox News’ Tucker Carlson remarked, “It doesn’t sound like they can say much of anything.” “The Pentagon cannot say that UFOs are from a different solar system, but they can’t say they’re not. They can’t say they’re from China or Russia, but they can’t say they’re not,” Carlson said.

• So Carlson turned his questions over to Lue Elizondo, a former Pentagon official who oversaw investigations of UFO sightings. Elizondo offered a history lesson on UFOs. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Elizondo obtained records that show the US military has been monitoring UFOs since 1950, possibly even earlier. “This is official government documentation from military personnel to very senior military brass,” said Elizondo.

• Elizondo says that senior military personnel and scientists have spotted UFOs over US military facilities on multiple occasions. “The US government has finally admitted that this is not some sort of secret US technology,” he said. “But now, there is some wiggle room to say, ‘Well maybe it is some foreign adversarial technology.'”

• Elizondo thinks the likely culprits would be either China or Russia. But Russia shared much of its UFO information with the US following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and “they were seeing the exact same thing in their skies that we were,” he said, eliminating Russia as a suspect.

• Elizondo noted that China is frequently behind the curve on technology in comparison to the US. He doubts that either China or Russia would have the technological capabilities to conduct such advanced surveillance on US military operations. It is extremely unlikely that either China or Russia would have this type of technology – at least 1000 years ahead of us – and kept it secret since the 1950s.

• While Elizondo appeared to dismiss theories that the UFOs could be Chinese or Russian technology, he didn’t suggest any other possible culprits. He did note, however, an increase in UFO sightings as the country developed its nuclear abilities. “We began to see an increased uptick of what appeared to be some sort of reconnaissance or surveillance of our nuclear technology, our nuclear development – whether it’s power or propulsion or weapons systems and related technology,” he said.

• [Editor’s Note] Elizondo – a former counter-intelligence official with the CIA – says that UFOs have been breaching US military airspace since the 1950s (true), and they aren’t American, Chinese or Russian. But government officials cannot say they are extraterrestrial in origin.

What are they hiding? They are hiding the fact that Hitler and the Nazi’s obtained advanced anti-gravity electromagnetic propulsion technology from extraterrestrials just prior to WWII, induced the American military industrial complex to join their evil alliance during the 1950s in return for access to this technology, and thus created both the modern deep state shadow government and the secret space programs – all of which has been kept from public knowledge. With the maniacal deep state politicians and generals controlling the nuclear arsenal, benevolent extraterrestrials stepped in to make sure that these nukes could not be used to destroy the Earth, and thereby causing severe repercussions throughout the galaxy.

So what is this game that Elizondo is playing? Is he truly trying to advance UFO disclosure by making it obvious that these UFOs, or at least the technology, comes from extraterrestrials? Or is he trying to advance the agenda of the deep state by creating confusion and fear of an extraterrestrial threat to the Earth, possibly setting up a deep state false flag alien invasion?

Former Pentagon official Lue Elizondo said the military has been seeing mysterious

“tic-tac” UFOs since 1950, possibly even earlier.

On his show, Tucker Carlson brought on Elizondo to discuss the military’s history with UFOs, asking what the Pentagon’s report really means.

“The Pentagon cannot say that UFOs are from a different solar system, but they can’t say they’re not. They can’t say they’re from China or Russia, but they can’t say they’re not,” Carlson said.

In the Pentagon’s report that top US officials were briefed on this week, US intelligence couldn’t offer an explanation for over 120 mysterious UFO sightings.

“It doesn’t sound like they can say much of anything,” Calrson said, turning his

questions over to Elizondo, a longtime Pentagon official who oversaw investigations of UFO sightings.

Elizondo used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain records that show the military has been monitoring UFOs since 1950, possibly even earlier.

“This isn’t some eye witness report from a civilian,” Elizondo said. “This is official government documentation from military personnel to very senior military brass.”

Elizondo said senior military personnel and scientists have spotted UFOs over US

military facilities on multiple occasions.
“The US government has finally admitted that this is not some sore of secret US technology,” he said. “But now, there is some wiggle room to say, ‘Well maybe it is some foreign adversarial technology.'”

Elizondo says the likely culprits would be either China or Russia, but doesn’t think either of them have the technological capabilities to conduct such advanced surveillance.

Russia shared much of its UFO information with the US following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Elizondo said.

“They shared a lot of their UFO information with us, and by the way, they were seeing the exact same thing in their skies that we were,” he said, eliminating Russia as a suspect.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Mainstream Media Using UFO Report to Stir Arms Race

June 19, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Caitlin Johnstone June 4, 2021 (consortiumnews.com)

• The New York Times has published an article on the leaked contents of the still anticipated U.S. government report on UFOs (see here). “The report determines that a vast majority of more than 120 (UFO) incidents over the past two decades did not originate from any American military or other advanced U.S. government technology,” the NY Times was told by the officials. “That determination would appear to eliminate the possibility that Navy pilots who reported seeing unexplained aircraft might have encountered programs the government meant to keep secret.”

• The NY Times also stated definitively that, “Intelligence officials believe at least some of the aerial phenomena could have been experimental technology from a rival power, most likely Russia or China. One senior official briefed on the intelligence said without hesitation that U.S. officials knew it was not American technology. The official said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be experimenting with hypersonic technology.” Apparently, foreign adversaries have severely lapped American military technological development.

• Of course, the ‘senior government officials’ cited by the NY Times are anonymous, as usual. And of course, the narrative that the NY Times is promoting is convenient for imperialists and war profiteers who want to spur greater defense spending and the development of more intensive weapons to meet the perceived challenges of this new Cold War.

• The NY Times article didn’t hold back on the fear-mongering: “Russia has been investing heavily in hypersonics, believing the technology offers it the ability to evade American missile-defense technology. China has also developed hypersonic weaponry, and included it in military parades. If the phenomena were Chinese or Russian aircraft, officials said, that would suggest the two powers’ hypersonic research had far outpaced American military development.”

• This won’t be the last time we hear the imperial media warning us that UFOs may be a sign of a frightening gap in technology leaving the U.S. defenseless against far more powerful foreign foes. Tucker Carlson has been pushing this narrative for weeks now, demanding that the U.S. government do more to address the fact that “our military was completely outmatched technologically by whatever these (UFOs) were.” “UFOs, it turns out, are real,” said Carlson, “and whatever else they are, they’re a prima facie challenge to the United States military. They’re doing things the U.S. military does not allow, and they’re doing it with impunity.”

• Carlson had on his Fox News show military intelligence veteran Luis Elizondo, who claimed that the Senate UFO report will reveal “an intelligence failure on the part of the U.S. intel community on the level of 9/11.” “If there’s a foreign adversary that can put a nuclear warhead within moments over Washington, D.C., OK, that’s a problem,” Elizondo told Carlson.

• Will we now begin seeing this ‘arms race’ angle become the dominant aspect of this UFO story? It would certainly fit the pattern of the U.S. war machine and mass media promoting completely unverifiable allegations about foreign governments to justify further cold war escalations.

• In the early sixties, President John F. Kennedy falsely promoted the “missile gap” narrative, telling the public that the Soviet Union had surpassed the United States in nuclear weapons when he knew full well the U.S. nuclear arsenal had always far surpassed the U.S.S.R.’s in number, quality and deployment. But Kennedy used this hawkish narrative to win an election and advance the largest peacetime expansion of U.S. military power ever, leading directly to the events which gave rise to the Cuban Missile Crisis which came far closer to ending our world than most of us like to think about.

• This new Cold War that the U.S. is waging against Russia and China is insane. There is no valid reason our planet’s dominant powers cannot at the very least cease brandishing Armageddon weapons at each other and begin collaborating toward a better world. Reject the propagandists and Cold Warriors, no matter how elaborate or bizarre their manipulations become.

• [Editor’s Note] You can see the deep state’s fingerprints all over this NY Times article – and the Cold War fever it promotes. Now that the white hat military Alliance is effectively cleaning out the entrenched deep state scourge, the deep state is desperate for some sort of existential threat or false flag that will distract the public from the war between good vs evil that is currently raging behind the scenes. The evil deep state is trying very hard to make one last ditch effort to manufacture a threat of some sort (ie: nuclear war, famine, pandemic, alien invasion) that will allow them to step in and save us all, to reinforce their political control.

Of course the ‘Tic Tacs’ and ‘drones’ that the military is seeing come from the American military industrial complex using advanced extraterrestrial technology gleaned since the 1950s and recently patented by the US Navy. The deep state just want to turn it around and use it for their own ends, as they have been doing for the past seventy years. This type of deception is the ‘front line’ of the information war that being waged right now.

The New York Times has published an article on the contents of the hotly anticipated

**pyramid drone UFOs swarming a US Navy destroyer in 2019**

U.S. government report on UFOs, as per usual based on statements of anonymous officials, and as per usual promoting narratives that are convenient for imperialists and war profiteers.

Together with one voice, the anonymous U.S. officials and the “paper of record” — which is supposed to scrutinize U.S. officials — assure us definitively that the mysterious aerial phenomena that have reportedly been witnessed by military personnel are certainly not any kind of secret U.S. technology, but could totally be aliens and could definitely be a sign that the Russians or Chinese have severely lapped America’s lagging military development.

“The report determines that a vast majority of more than 120 incidents over the past

two decades did not originate from any American military or other advanced U.S. government technology,” NYT was reportedly told by the officials. “That determination would appear to eliminate the possibility that Navy pilots who reported seeing unexplained aircraft might have encountered programs the government meant to keep secret.

**‘Tic Tac’ UFO seen off of San Diego in 2004**

Oh well if the U.S. government has ruled out secret U.S. government weaponry programs, hot damn that’s good enough for me. Great journalism you guys.

One senior official said without hesitation that U.S. officials knew it was not American

technology.

He said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be experimenting with hypersonic technology https://t.co/bgYtohKC9O
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) June 4, 2021

**China’s hypersonic ‘aircraft carrier killer’ missile**

“Intelligence officials believe at least some of the aerial phenomena could have been experimental technology from a rival power, most likely Russia or China,” the Times reports. “One senior official briefed on the intelligence said without hesitation that U.S. officials knew it was not American technology. He said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be

experimenting with hypersonic technology.”

“Russia has been investing heavily in hypersonics, believing the technology offers it the ability to evade American missile-defense technology,” NYT adds. “China has also developed hypersonic weaponry, and included it in military parades. If the phenomena were Chinese or Russian aircraft, officials said, that would suggest the two powers’ hypersonic research had far outpaced American military development.”

The article goes on to describe how the U.S. military have been “unsettled” by aircraft moving and behaving in ways known technologies cannot explain. The implication of scary foreign adversaries having “outpaced American military development” to such an extent is of course that the U.S. military is going to require a far bigger budget with far more intensive weapons development.

This would be the same New York Times that has consistently supported all of the U.S. military’s devastating acts of mass murder around the world, by the way.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

$2.2 Billion Budget Boost for Space Force

June 8, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Sandra Erwin May 28, 2021 (spacenews.com)

• On May 28th, the Pentagon unveiled details of Administrator Biden’s funding request for the coming 2022 fiscal year that begins on October 1st. Biden is asking Congress to approve $6 trillion in federal spending. The defense budget proposal for 2022 is $715 billion. $17.4 billion of that amount earmarked for the US Space Force, which is $2.2 billion more than what Congress enacted in 2021. Space Force accounts for about 2.5% of total Defense Department spending.

• Much of the $2.2 billion in additional funding to Space Force was transferred from the Air Force, Navy and Army, to be used for new investments in space systems. “Competitors like China and Russia are challenging America’s advantage in space by aggressively developing offensive weapons to deny or destroy U.S. space capabilities in conflict,” the Pentagon said. The Space Force budget “funds capabilities for the contested domain of space”.

• The $17.4 billion request for the Space Force excludes $930 million for personnel costs that are funded in the Air Force’s budget. The Space Force is expected to grow by about 2,000 people in 2022. The budget funds 12,000 personnel in 2022, including 8,400 active-duty military.

• $3.4 billion of the Space Force’s budget will go toward operations: the organization of Space Force headquarters and field commands, doctrine development and professional military education. $20 million will go toward the establishment of a National Space Intelligence Center. The budget proposal increases Space Force funding for research and development from $10.5 billion last year to $11.3 billion. Procurement also grows from $2.3 billion to $2.8 billion in 2022.

• Funding for the National Security Space Launch program includes $1.4 billion for five missions, compared to $1 billion for three missions in 2021. There is also $239 million for launch-related research and development. The five missions planned for 2022 will be split between United Launch Alliance and SpaceX.

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s $715 billion defense budget proposal for 2022 includes $17.4 billion for the U.S. Space Force, about $2.2 billion more than what Congress enacted in 2021.

The proposed $715 billion defense budget is $11.3 billion more than what Congress appropriated in 2021.

The Pentagon on May 28 unveiled details of the president’s funding request for the coming fiscal year that begins Oct 1. The White House is asking Congress to approve $6 trillion in federal spending.

The Space Force accounts for about 2.5% of total Defense Department spending. The $2.2 billion increase sought for 2022 represents a significant boost for the smallest branch of the armed forces established 18 months ago.

The Pentagon said the $2.2 billion in additional funding sought for the Space Force includes new investments in space systems and much of this funding was transferred from the Air Force, Navy and Army.

The president’s budget “funds capabilities for the contested domain of space,” the Pentagon said in budget documents released May 28. “Competitors like China and Russia are challenging America’s advantage in space by aggressively developing offensive weapons to deny or destroy U.S. space capabilities in conflict.”

The $17.4 billion request for the Space Force does not include $930 million for personnel costs that are funded in the Air Force’s budget. The Space Force would grow by about 2,000 people in 2022. The budget funds 12,000 personnel in 2022, including 8,400 active-duty military.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

UFOs Have Disabled America’s Nuclear Weapons Says Elizondo

May 13, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Vinod DSouza April 28, 2021 (ibtimes.sg)

• Luis Elizondo claims that extraterrestrials are observing our planet and are specifically targeting only the nuclear capabilities of the US military. He says that countries such as China and Russia have a secret pact with aliens giving them control over the alien technology. Elizondo warned that such countries could strike the heart of US anytime with the help of their “foreign adversarial technology”.

• Elizondo, a former intelligence officer who worked as a director of the Pentagon’s UFO research program known as the ‘Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program’ (ATTIP) from 2007 to 2012, revealed his team had discovered that UFOs have targeted US nuclear technology to disabled US military weapons. Elizondo claims that the government is planning to lift the lid on aliens and reveal the “reality” of UFOs to the American public soon.

• Alien observers claim that the UFO report ordered by President Donald Trump (that is due to be released on June 1st) will contain vital information about super-smart aliens visiting the Earth. Tim McMillan, a former Police Lieutenant turned UFO investigator, has questioned why the Senate Select Intelligence Committee asked Trump to sign off on the UFO report so urgently, raising assumptions that it contains real life military encounters with aliens.

• ”I think for me the most concerning thing are those incidents that involve our nuclear equities,” Elizondo said in a recent press conference. ”There seems to be a very distinct congruency between [UAP/UFO] activity and our nuclear technology.” The New York Post quotes Elizondo as saying: “Whether it be propulsion or weapon systems or whatnot…we’ve actually had some of our nuclear capabilities disabled by these things.” He people to be prepared if there’s an imminent attack by external forces.

• [Editor’s Note] For a century, negative extraterrestrial groups such as the Draco Reptilians, the Anunnaki and the Orion group have controlled the Earth’s population with an iron grip. They chose to plunder the Earth’s economic and human resources rather than to destroy the world, which they certainly could have done. If nuclear bases were in fact disarmed, it most likely would have been done worldwide by the more benevolent extraterrestrial groups who understand that a nuclear holocaust on Earth would reverberate negatively throughout the rest of the galaxy. They would have done so in the name of peace, not invasion.

Is the real reason for Tom Delonge and Luis Elizondo’s ‘To the Stars Academy’, which works closely with the US Air Force to orchestrate a slow drip of ‘limited’ UFO/extraterrestrial disclosure, to stir up public fear of a false flag alien attack on Earth as predicted by Wernher von Braun in 1974, and recently publicized by Steven Greer? And to throw in perceived threats from China and Russia for good measure. (see Dr. Michael Salla’s recent article: “Is an Alien False Flag Event Coming?”) The deep state has their back against the wall and are losing control. This would be the ideal time to roll out such a false flag event as a last ditch effort by the deep state to wrest control back from the white hat Alliance. And Elizondo may just be helping to lay the groundwork.

Former US intelligence officer Luis Elizondo claims that America’s nuclear weapons have been disabled by UFOs and sent out a warning that countries such as China and Russia have control over the alien technology.

Elizondo rang warning bells fearing that other countries could strike the heart of US anytime with the help of their “foreign adversarial technology,” hinting the countries have a secret pact with aliens.

Luis Elizondo previously worked as a director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (ATTIP), which is a secret and undisclosed Pentagon team that reportedly studied UFOs, between 2007 and 2012.

He stated that there’s an extraterrestrial observation occurring on our planet and the powers are specifically targeting only the nuclear capabilities of the US, raising suspicions that other countries might be involved and equipped with alien technology.

Elizondo revealed that his team had found ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’ (UAP) surrounding

the nuclear weapons, and unknown technologies, which he claims to be UFO powers, targeted US nuclear technology and disabled it.

The ex intelligence officer also claimed that the government is planning to lift the lid on aliens and reveal the “reality” of UFOs to the American public soon.

”I think for me the most concerning thing are those incidents that involve our nuclear equities,” Elizondo said in a press conference. ”There seems to be a very distinct congruency between UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), associated UAP activity and and our nuclear technology.”

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Japan’s Effort to Manage the Growing Problems of Space

May 9, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Robert Farley April 23, 2021 (thediplomat.com)

• Much like the United States and Western Europe, the Japanese economy requires spaced-based communications technology to knit together the fabric of its industrial base. By some estimates, Japan has the fourth most orbital satellites in the world. Consequently, Japan’s Ministry of Defense is collaborating its civilian space agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), to establish a ‘Space Operations Squadron’ (SOS) within the Air-Self-Defense Force. The SOS expects to achieve operation readiness by 2023.

• The duties of the 100 member Space Operations Squadron will be largely defensive, working closely with U.S., German, and French space organizations. It will monitor potentially hostile foreign satellites and track space debris.

• Japan has not undertaken an anti-satellite weapons test, and the development of offensive anti-satellite technology may not conform with Japan’s constitutional framework. The legacy of World War II continues to loom large in East Asia. It is difficult to imagine that an ASAT test would be well-received either inside or outside of Japan. It is not difficult to imagine that Japan’s SOS could profitably share responsibilities with the U.S. Space Force in ways that would enhance the latter’s counter-space capabilities.

• On the civilian side, Japan has taken the lead on developing techniques for “cleaning” space of human-made debris and junk with several private firms collaborating with JAXA on using alternative techniques for clean-up, from magnetic docking systems to electromagnetic tethering to lasers.

• Japan’s highly advanced technological base makes it an enormous potential space power. The Space Operations Squadron may be the first indication of Japan flexing its “space muscles” as the strategic situation with China in the Indo-Pacific evolves.

As one of the world’s most technologically advanced societies, Japan is as dependent upon access to space as any country in the world. Much like the United States and Western Europe, the Japanese economy requires spaced-based communications technology to knit together the fabric of its industrial base. Indeed, by some estimates Japan has the fourth most orbital satellites in the world. Although the Japanese Self-Defense Forces do not operate in the same geographic scope as their U.S. or European counterparts, they still require satellite technology for communications and surveillance purposes.

Consequently, Japan has steadily increased its institutional military engagement with space, allowing the Ministry of Defense to collaborate with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the civilian space agency, for the first time in 2012. Japan also established a Space Operations Squadron (SOS) within the Air-Self-Defense Force in May 2020, with expected operational readiness in 2023. The squadron will have 100 members by the time it stands up. The portfolio of the squadron, which seems to most closely resemble the former Air Force Space Command in the United States, includes liaising with U.S., German, and French space organizations.

As framed thus far, the responsibilities of the Space Operations Squadron will be largely defensive, including the tracking of satellites and space debris in order to avoid collisions, as well as the monitoring of potentially hostile foreign satellites. Japan has not undertaken an anti-satellite test, and it is unclear how the development of offensive anti-satellite technology would sit within Japan’s constitutional framework, but the legacy of World War II continues to loom large in East Asia, and it is difficult to imagine that an ASAT test would be well-received either inside or outside of Japan. It is not difficult to imagine, however, that Japan’s SOS could profitably share responsibilities with the U.S. Space Force in ways that would enhance the latter’s counter-space capabilities — as suggested by the graphic below, which outlines a plan for enhancing space situational awareness (SSA) between, JAXA, the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MOD), and U.S. forces.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

China to Put Space Station in Orbit by 2024

May 1, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Joel Gehrke April 14, 2021 (washingtonexaminer.com)

• “There’s just no question, as a general matter, that China is focused on achieving leadership in space,” the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, told a Senate oversight panel. China is expected to launch its own space station (pictured above) into low-earth orbit by 2024, and Chinese officials have “entered [the] pre-launch phase” for the core of a low-earth orbit space station. This project is expected to unfold in stages over the next few years, and Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping aspires to make the space station a highly visible display of China’s ambitions.

• “We expect a Chinese space station in low Earth orbit (LEO) to be operational between 2022 and 2024,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a recently released report. “China also has conducted and plans to conduct additional lunar exploration missions, and it intends to establish a robotic research station on the Moon and later an intermittently crewed lunar base.”

• A trio of Chinese astronauts could be living in the core module within months. “China is aiming to construct its three-module space station with 11 launches across 2021-2022,” says Space News. “These will consist of three module launches and visits by four crewed missions and four cargo spacecraft. Chinese astronauts are currently in training for space station missions, with 12 astronauts expected to fly on the four missions.”

• A Chinese space station put into orbit with the assistance of Russian experts would be a major achievement for the Chinese, and would punctuate China’s emergence as a rival to the U.S. in space. “To fly humans in space and do it successfully, you have to master every field of technical endeavor — chemistry; physics; every form of engineering; medicine, you name it, you have to be a master in it,” Scott Pace told the Washington Examiner in 2018 when Pace was the executive secretary of the White House National Space Council.

• Chinese state media portrays this development as a peaceful display of China’s interest in space. “China’s space missions are mainly for peaceful purposes, and fruits of development can be shared with others, to offer great help to the progress of space technology, which is different from the U.S.’s space technology that mainly serves the military,” Chinese aerospace expert Song Zhongping was quoted as saying.

• But NATO officials see a growing security risk from such capabilities. China has developed and used at least one kind of anti-satellite missile to destroy a weather satellite in 2007. The PLA will continue to integrate space services such as satellite reconnaissance, positioning, navigation, timing, and communications into its weapons command-and-control systems to erode the US military’s information advantage, warns Haines. “China has already fielded ground-based ASAT missiles intended to destroy satellites in [low-earth orbit] and ground-based ASAT lasers probably intended to blind or damage sensitive space-based optical sensors on LEO satellites.”

• Haines suggested that countering those threats would involve both Space Force and private sector initiatives. “The private sector has just become increasingly important in our efforts to contest and to work, essentially, against contestations to our leadership in space,” Haines told the senators. “Economically, from a security perspective, from a communications perspective, and from the perspective of just understanding and intelligence … we want to ensure that we continue US leadership in this area.”

• [Editor’s Note] And so retired US deep state government officials and military officers continue their drum beat for war against China, Russia or whomever they can draw into battle, while enticing deep state-controlled corporations to support the deep state’s war agenda with the promise of massive military contracts. Just business as usual for the deep state.

China is expected to launch its own space station into low-earth orbit by 2024,

**Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines**

American intelligence officials assess, part of an effort to surpass the United States as the preeminent space power.

“There’s just no question, as a general matter, that China is focused on achieving leadership in space, in effect, as compared to the United States,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a Senate oversight panel on Wednesday before urging further decision during a closed session.

Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping aspires to make one very visible display of his ambitions in the coming weeks, as Chinese officials have “entered [the] pre-launch phase” for the core of a low-earth orbit space station, per state media. This project is expected to unfold in stages over the next few years, according to Haines’s team of analysts.

“We expect a Chinese space station in low Earth orbit (LEO) to be operational between 2022 and 2024,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a report released this week. “China also has conducted and plans to conduct additional lunar exploration missions, and it intends to establish a robotic research station on the Moon and later an intermittently crewed lunar base.”

A trio of Chinese astronauts could be living in the core module within months, according

to a trade publication analysis. “China is aiming to construct its three-module space station with 11 launches across 2021-2022,” Space News observed this week. “These will consist of three module launches and visits by four crewed missions and four cargo spacecraft. Chinese astronauts are currently in training for space station missions, with 12 astronauts expected to fly on the four missions.”

Those ambitions would punctuate China’s emergence as a rival to the U.S., which launched the International Space Station in 1999, placing “the third brightest object in the sky” into orbit with the assistance of Russian experts — a cooperative effort intended at the time to demonstrate post-Cold War comity and technological possibility. It would be a major achievement and opportunity for Chinese researchers.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

China, Russia and the New Space Race

April 27, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by James Stavridis April 12, 2021 (bloomberg.com)

• Russia and China are contesting the US militarily, from the Arctic to the Baltics to the South China Sea. A few weeks ago, the two nations agreed to build a joint research station on the Moon. In an online statement, the China National Space Administration said the base would be open to “all interested countries and international partners”. But if you look at recent Russian and Chinese space operations, they have a distinctly military bent. And the idea of general political and military cooperation between the two is gaining speed, from massive war games on the Siberian border to warship deployments in the eastern Mediterranean and the North Atlantic.

• Washington needs to understand the strategic approach being taken by both of these US rivals in space. The Center for Strategic and International Studies and the lesser-known Secure World Foundation have recently released reports highlighting a cluster of Russian activities that have caught the attention of the US intelligence community. These include significant antisatellite missile tests throughout 2020; flights of Russian spacecraft very near US spy satellites; tests of projectile launches in space; and fraying ties with the US in civilian and scientific space cooperation.

• As the supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, this article’s writer, James Stavridis, spent a good deal of time with the then-Russian ambassador to the alliance, Dmitry Rogozin. Rogozin went on to serve as deputy prime minister in charge of all Russian defense and space industries. Since 2018, Rogozin has been the head of Roscosmos, the equivalent of NASA. Given his strong defense background, Rogozin brings a military thrust to the Russian space program.

• Ten years ago, Rogozin told Stavridis that Russia’s military future was in space. In 2014, Rogozin mocked the US space program on Twitter as needing a trampoline to bring astronauts to the International Space Station. After a successful commercial launch by SpaceX in 2020, Elon Musk tweeted back, “The trampoline is working.”

• China doesn’t have the decades-long history that Russia has in the space domain, but the Chinese are accelerating rapidly. China had landed a lunar module on the Moon, returning soil samples. It launched a Mars probe that is currently orbiting the red planet. And it has plans to build a Moon base, along with Russia. All of this is part of an emerging “space culture” in China.

• Chinese efforts in space have an increasingly military feel to them as well. China has 363 satellites in space, second only to the U.S. (with more than 1,300). The Chinese have been conducting anti-satellite tests for nearly two decades, including missiles and lasers. They have devoted considerable effort to sharpening offensive cybertools that can go after US space assets. The Chinese have also fired more rockets into space than any other country for three years straight.

• As Russia and China come together to operate in the cosmos, their overall military and strategic cooperation will increase as well. The fledgling US Space Force must be part of a US response. America needs a small but elite US Cyber Force working alongside our allies, much as China and Russia intend to do. And Washington needs a coherent plan for private-public cooperation and to prioritize defense dollars for space.

• [Editor’s Note] The author of this article, retired Admiral James Stavridis, is intent on associating Russia with China’s CCP. And where is he now that he has retired from the US Navy? He is an operating executive with the Carlyle Group, a notorious bastion of the deep state elite trying to stoke a war between the US, China and Russia. China has invited “all interested countries and international partners” to join them in the development of a Moon base. After the deep state stopped utilizing Russian space rockets to bring Americans to the International Space Station in favor of their darling, Elon Musk, why wouldn’t Russia be interested in another Moon program? And didn’t the Russian navy just work with the US Navy to bottle up the Evergreen container ship ‘Ever Given’ in the Suez Canal, which reportedly contained not only trafficked humans but weapons of mass destruction?

What is really going on is a war between the deep state and non-compliant Alliance countries like Russia. Deep state shills like Admiral Stavridis only want to demonize Russia and stir up World War III to give the deep state a path to total control over the planet and the solar system. Unfortunately, Administrator Biden is also a deep state lackey who supports this evil agenda. It is up to the white hats in the US military to excise the deep state trolls from its ranks, completely remove the deep state from power, and set the planet on a course of peace and prosperity – including our expansion into space to stand alongside our space cousins – which the deep state has actively prevented since WWII.

Russia and China are looking hard at how they should allocate defense spending to

contest the U.S. militarily, from the Arctic to the Baltics to the South China Sea. Near the top of both national shopping lists are military operations and assets in space, and the most intriguing aspect of their decision to look to the stars is that they are going to do it together.

Most notably, the two nations agreed a few weeks ago to build a joint research station on the moon. In an online statement, the China National Space Administration said the base would be open to “all interested countries and international partners,” which sounds relatively benign. But if you look at recent Russian and Chinese space operations, they have a distinctly military bent. And the idea of general political and military cooperation between the two is gaining speed, from massive war games on the Siberian border to warship deployments in the eastern Mediterranean and the North Atlantic.

What should the U.S. be doing?

First, Washington needs to clearly understand the strategic approach being taken by both of these rivals, who are now peer competitors, at least in space.

We should begin with Russia, which has had a very long and successful track record in space operations dating back to Soviet times. The Center for Strategic and International Studies and the lesser-known Secure World Foundation have recently released reports highlighting a cluster of Russian activities that have caught the attention of the U.S. intelligence community.

These include significant antisatellite missile tests throughout 2020; so-called close aboard flights of Russian spacecraft very near U.S. spy satellites; tests of projectile launches in space; and fraying ties with the U.S. in civilian and scientific space cooperation. (The two nations have previously worked together closely, especially on the International Space Station.)

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Russia Expects Paris to Back Initiatives on Preventing Outer Space Arms Race

April 26, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Mihail Metcel April 11, 2021 (tass.com)

• In an interview with the Russian News Agency TASS on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight, Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov said that Moscow expects Paris to support its initiatives aimed at non-placement of arms in outer space.

• “Moscow and Paris on the whole share the need to ensure the safety of space activities and their implementation in accordance with the norms of international law,” says Meshkov. “This concerns the prevention of an arms race in outer space and the need to prevent turning it into a new arena of confrontation.”

• Part of Russia’s diplomatic initiative is “launching talks on the treaty on preventing the placement of arms in outer space.” The draft document was submitted by Russia and China,” said Meshkov. “This also refers to the commitments on the non-use of force or a threat to use force against space objects, agreeing measures on increasing trust in space. It’s also important to adopt global political commitments on no first placement of arms in outer space.”

• “We count on the support of these initiatives by Paris,” Meshkov stressed.

**Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov**

PARIS, April 11. /TASS/. Moscow expects Paris to support its initiatives aimed at non-placement of arms in outer space, Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov said in an interview with TASS on occasion of the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight.

According to him, “Moscow and Paris on the whole share the need to ensure the safety of space activities and their implementation in accordance with the norms of international law.” “This concerns the prevention of an arms race in outer space and the need to prevent turning it into a new arena of confrontation,” the diplomat said.

Russia is calling on its foreign partners, including France, to back its initiatives, the diplomat said. “Among them is launching talks on the treaty on preventing the placement of arms in outer space [the draft document was submitted by Russia and China – TASS],” Meshkov explained. “This also refers to the commitments on the non-use of force or a threat to use force against space objects, agreeing measures on increasing trust in space. It’s also important to adopt global political commitments on no first placement of arms in outer space.” “We count on the support of these initiatives by Paris,” he stressed.

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Military Scientist to Build ‘Space-Time Modification Weapon’

April 25, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Michael Moran April 10, 2021 (dailystar.co.uk)

• The radar-invisible F117A Nighthawk and its flying wing cousin the B2 Spirit still look like something from a Star Wars film despite both designs being around 40 years old. Scientist Dr. Salvatore Pais (pictured above) claims that he is able to create artificially generated high energy electromagnetic fields that can manipulate the “quantum vacuum” which underlies the entire universe. Pais says that these discoveries will overturn the laws of physics as we currently understand them.

• While science writers such as Brett Tingley argues that the so-called Pais Effect “has no scientific basis in reality” and that the patents related to it are “filled with pseudo-scientific jargon”, the US Department of Defense has given Pais $500,000 to develop his ‘Space-Time Modification Weapon’.

• The ‘Pais effect’ is the electromagnetic “force field” that surrounds a craft that allows it incredible acceleration through air or water, and “capable of extreme underwater speeds” with virtually no resistance. The resulting new kind of aircraft, known as a HUAC, would be – according to Pais – able to “engineer the fabric of our reality at the most fundamental level”. “The HAUC is conical (like the point of a pencil) in configuration with an elliptical cross-section, similar in geometry to a hypersonic glide vehicle [or] dart,” notes Pais in a recent publication. The HUAC craft would operate as both an aircraft and a submarine, encasing its crew in a Faraday Cage to shield them from the intense electromagnetic forces.

• Pais has filed several patents, with titles such as “Craft Using an Inertial Mass Reduction Device,” “Piezoelectricity-induced High-Temperature Superconductor,” “High-Frequency Gravitational Wave Generator,” and “Ultrahigh Intensity Electromagnetic Field Generator”. At least one of his patents was initially rejected by the US Patent Office in 2018 because it did not seem to be scientifically plausible, but then was later resubmitted with further documentation that appeared to prove Pais’s wild claims.

• US Department of Defense (DoD) emails reveal that there was at least one experimental demonstration of the technology. The schematics Pais drew up for his experimental craft look suspiciously like the “Black Triangles” sometimes spotted gliding silently over the southwestern United States. The US National Institute for Discovery Science cataloged sightings of so-called “Black Triangle” UFOs dating back to the 1990s, and concluded that the behavior of the mysterious aerial objects “does not appear consistent with the covert deployment of an advanced DoD aircraft”.

• According to The Drive, the US military is investing in these technologies because of concerns that China has already developed ultra-advanced aircraft of the type that reportedly “buzzed” the USS Nimitz in 2004 (ie: The ‘Tic Tac’ UFO). The Drive’s Brett Tingley and Tyler Rogoway wrote: “The Chief Technical Officer of the Naval Aviation Enterprise personally wrote a letter addressed to the examiner claiming that the U.S. needs the patent as the Chinese are already ‘investing significantly’ in these aerospace technologies.”

The US Department of Defence has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the development

of a ‘Space-Time Modification Weapon’ that will ensure battlefield supremacy by bending the laws of physics.

While the concept might seem like something dreamed up by tinfoil-hatted conspiracy theorists, the US military has a long history of dabbling in research that sounds like science fiction.

The radar-invisible F117A Nighthawk and its flying wing cousin the B2 Spirit still look like something from a Star Wars film despite both designs being around 40 years old.

This new initiative is based on the work of controversial scientist Dr Salvatore Pais.

Pais claims that artificially generated high energy electromagnetic fields can manipulate the “quantum vacuum” that underlies the entire Universe.

If Pais is correct, a craft surrounded by an electromagnetic “force field” of this kind could move through air – or water – with virtually no resistance.

This would allow incredible acceleration and produce a new kind of aircraft that – according to the enigmatic Dr Pais – would be able to “engineer the fabric of our reality at the most fundamental level”.

But not everyone agrees with him.

Science writer Brett Tingley argues that the so-called Pais Effect “has no scientific basis in reality” and added the patents related to it “were filled with pseudo-scientific jargon”

But it’s pseudo-scientific jargon that has convinced at least some US defence chiefs. Pais has been handed over $500,000 (£365k) to research the bizarre concept.

Defence department emails reveal that there was at least one experimental demonstration of the technology. UFO hunters will note that the schematics Pais drew up for his experimental craft look suspiciously like the “Black Triangles” sometimes spotted gliding silently over the southwestern United States.

The US National Institute for Discovery Science catalogued sightings of so-called “Black Triangle” UFOs dating back to the 1990s, and concluded that the behaviour of the mysterious aerial objects “does not appear consistent with the covert deployment of an advanced DoD [U.S. Department of the Defence] aircraft”.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

China’s Space War With the US

April 24, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Brandon J. Weichert April 8, 2021 (asiatimes.com)

• Any conflict between the United States and China would likely begin at sea and in the skies over the Indo-Pacific region. Last month, US Navy Admiral John Aquilino testified before Congress that American forces deployed to the Indo-Pacific are overmatched by their Chinese rivals.

• US military forces and their allies would require unhampered access to satellites in order to defend against Chinese aggression. Nearly 70% of the US Army’s weapons rely on satellites to function. American warships would need to coordinate and communicate with one another and their combatant commands across the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite constellation in geosynchronous orbit, and across the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) constellation.

• The ubiquitous Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation of satellites is essential for the movement and deployment of US forces, especially in a large area of operation like the Indo-Pacific. Even America’s vaunted nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) satellites could be destroyed in geosynchronous orbit, nullifying America’s nuclear deterrent.

• Denying the Americans access to these vital satellite constellations would be key for any plan by Beijing to invade Taiwan or to capture the South or East China Sea. A “Space Pearl Harbor” would temporarily blind and confuse US forces to create a window of opportunity for China’s ‘People’s Liberation Army’ (PLA) to defeat a confused American military.

• The US military would also attack China’s satellite constellations. But Beijing’s forces are nowhere near as dependent on satellites as are America’s military forces. Also, American forces would wait to be attacked in space before responding in-kind. This gives Beijing the advantage by allowing the PLA escalation dominance in a space war – which would translate to China’s advantage on land, at sea, in the air, and within cyberspace, at least for a short time. Western dithering in the face of Chinese aggression would lead to their defeat.

• China’s leadership knows it does not need to defeat the United States and its allies in a war, they simply need to delay US military power from intervening against their forces long enough for China’s military to achieve their strategic objectives, say, capturing Taiwan. Once captured, China’s leaders believe that their American rivals would be unwilling to commit the resources needed to restore the status quo. China’s leaders would use their crippling defeat of US military forces in the Indo-Pacific as the leverage they’d need to seek a negotiated settlement with Washington to create a new regional paradigm wherein China, not the United States, is the dominant player.

• To deter China from enacting a Space Pearl Harbor, the Biden administration must demand a larger budget for the fledgling Space Force and insist upon a doctrine of satellite defense coupled with total space dominance. It is easier to preserve America’s satellite capabilities in peacetime than it is to try to restore them in war.

• If the United States continues to leave itself vulnerable to attack in the strategic high ground of space, an aggressive and innovative foe like China could exploit such weaknesses in a moment of geopolitical crisis and put another nail in the coffin of America’s superpower status. A China-dominated world order is a development that few outside of Beijing desire.

**Admiral John Aquilino testifying before Congress**

If a war between China and the United States erupted today, an American victory would not be assured. US Navy Admiral John Aquilino recently testified before Congress that American forces deployed to the Indo-Pacific are overmatched by their Chinese rivals.

Any conflict between the United States and China would likely begin at sea and in the skies over the Indo-Pacific region. Thus the US Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps would form the tip of America’s spear in the region.

These US military forces (and their allies) would require untrammeled access to satellites in order to defend against Chinese aggression.

For the US Navy to defend either the South or East China Sea effectively or to assist Taiwan, in the event that China attempted to invade the besieged democratic island-nation, American warships would need to coordinate and communicate with one another and their combatant commands across the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite constellation in geosynchronous orbit.
Nearly 70% of the US Army’s weapons rely on satellites to function. Therefore, another critical set of satellites China might target is the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) constellation.

The ubiquitous Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation of satellites is essential for the movement and deployment of US forces, especially in a large area of operation like the Indo-Pacific. Even America’s vaunted nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) satellites could be destroyed in geosynchronous orbit, nullifying America’s nuclear deterrent.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Secretary of Defense Austin is Updated on Strategic Space Systems

April 20, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Adam April 5, 2021 (nmtribune.com)

• On March 25th, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was briefed on the state of the DoD’s space systems and national security challenges in space. John Hill, the assistant secretary in charge of the defense for space affairs, headed Austin’s meeting attended by officials from Space Force, the US Space Command, and the National Reconnaissance Office, some in person and others via video teleconference.

• The briefing was meant to get Austin up to speed on space projects, the framework of the national defense space industry, and obstacles the US is facing in the space domain. China’s technical developments and space aspirations were also discussed. Biden has made technical rivalry with China a focal point for expenditure and policy decisions. Earlier in March, Austin assembled a “China Task Force” of senior government officials to offer suggestions about coping with China’s aspirations.

• “Serious and increasing risks to United States national security interests” are raised by Chinese and Russian space operations, according to Austin. In written confirmation hearings to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Austin said that the “strategic climate continues to change rapidly, particularly as it relates to space.” As defense secretary, he would embrace a national defense policy that addresses the “continued development of adversary space as well as counter space capacities.”

• US allies Japan and South Korea are increasingly anxious about China’s broad maritime assertions, technical advancements in space and other fields. In an address last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the United States should “engage all nations, like China and Russia, in establishing principles and norms of responsible conduct in outer space.”

• US military commanders in the Indo-Pacific area are worried about China’s potential to interrupt GPS and other vital communications satellites. They have called for increased investments in advanced space systems technology. Austin will have to weigh combatant commanders’ demands for more money amid economic constraints and proposals to cut military budgets as he prepares to make his first budget proposal to Congress.

Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin got a comprehensive report on the

Department of Defense’s space systems and national security challenges in space. Since taking office, this was Austin’s first high-level consultation on space concerns. In a comment to SpaceNews, Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby stated, “Secretary Austin was delighted to obtain a briefing on the space realm.”

Kirby stated he couldn’t elaborate on the exact topics addressed at the March 25 conference, but Austin “recognizes the relevance of this area to our national security,” according to Kirby. John Hill, who is serving as the assistant secretary in charge of the defense for space affairs, headed Austin’s meeting. Senior officials from the United States Space Force, United States Space Command, as well as the National Reconnaissance Office were present, some in person and others via video teleconference.

As per several outlets, the briefing was meant to get Austin up to speed on space projects, the framework of the national defense space industry, as well as the obstacles the United States confronts in the space domain. According to these sources, China’s technical developments and space aspirations were also discussed. The Biden government has made technical rivalry with China a focal point for expenditure and policy decisions. Austin assembled a “China task force” of senior government officials earlier this month to make suggestions about coping with China’s problems.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Russia’s Outer Space Agreement With U.S.A.

April 18, 2021
ExoNews Editor

April 3, 2021 (presstv.com)

• In a move to avoid a new era of arms race in the outer space, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved the extension of the ‘Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes’ agreement with the United States. A Russian press service said: “The extension of the agreement meets both countries’ interests and will facilitate the effective implementation of joint space projects.”

• The treaty was originally signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and US President George H.W. Bush on June 17, 1992. The agreement as extended will be in place until the end of 2030.

• Under the agreement, world powers are not allowed to place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in outer space orbit and must avoid harmful contamination of space. Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means, according to the document.

• US President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to establish the Space Force, calling for American “dominance in space.” Space Force also became a full member of the US intelligence community. Following suit, both Russia and China are developing similar military capabilities as they seek to field the technology and erode America’s military dominance. Moscow and Beijing have proposed a treaty that prohibits the deployment of ground-based and space-based weapons targeting satellites in the space and are pushing Washington to sign it.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved the extension of the Exploration and Use

of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes, the cabinet’s press service said in a statement on Saturday.

“The agreement …on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes will be in place until December 31, 2030,” it said.

“The extension of the agreement meets both countries’ interests and will facilitate the effective implementation of joint space projects.”

**President Trump creating Space Force**

The treaty was originally signed by then Russian President Boris Yeltsin and US President George W. Bush on June 17, 1992, in Washington.

Under the agreement, world powers are not allowed to place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or in the outer space and must

avoid harmful contamination of space.

The outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means, according to the document.

The administration of former US President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to establish the Space Force – the first new US military branch in 72 years – calling for his country’s “dominance in space.”

The Treaty, the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (PPWT), bans deployment of “any weapons in outer space.”

The PPWT signatories may not “resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects” or engage in activities “inconsistent” with the purpose of the treaty.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Russia and China Trying to Tie America’s Hands in Space

April 13, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Bradley Bowman and Jared Thompson March 31, 2021 (foreignpolicy.com)

• China and Russia have sprinted to develop and deploy both ground-based and space-based weapons targeting satellites while simultaneously pushing the United States to sign a treaty banning such weapons. Washington should avoid being drawn into international treaties on space that China and Russia have no intention of honoring.

• The Treaty on the ‘Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects’ (PPWT), which Beijing and Moscow have submitted at the United Nations, is a perfect example. PPWT signatories commit “not to place any weapons in outer space.” It also says parties to the treaty may not “resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects” or engage in activities “inconsistent” with the purpose of the treaty.

• More than two years ago, the US Defense Intelligence Agency noted that both China and Russia were already developing space capabilities that could be used as weapons. The reality is that China and Russia are already racing to field anti-satellite weapons. “The space domain is competitive, congested, and contested,” said the head of US Space Command General James Dickinson. “Our competitors, most notably China and Russia, have militarized this domain.” The PPWT treaty would thus protect their weapons while tying Washington’s hands.

• China’s People’s Liberation Army units are already training with ground-based anti-satellite missiles capable of destroying satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit, where America’s most sensitive nuclear communication and missile defense satellites orbit. China has also tested several ‘scavenger satellites’ which can sidle up to other satellites and use grappling arms to capture the other satellite.

• In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin heralded a ground-based laser weapon designed to attack satellites. Last December, Moscow tested a ground-based anti-satellite weapon that could destroy satellites in orbit. Russia recently deployed a pair of “nesting doll” satellites where one Russian satellite actually ‘births’ another. The second satellite has the capability to fire what appears to be a space torpedo.

• Meanwhile, China and Russia are pushing the United Nations for a “no first placement” resolution in which no government should be the first to put weapons in space. In a thinly veiled attempt to mask their intentions, China and Russia claim that their on-orbit capabilities are simply for peaceful purposes — for assessing the condition of broken satellites and conducting repairs as needed. This “dual-use” disguise permits Beijing and Moscow to put into orbit ostensibly peaceful or commercial capabilities that can also be used to disable or destroy U.S. military and intelligence satellites.

• A typical space treaty clearly defines acceptable and unacceptable actions in space and includes inspection and verification mechanisms. But the PPWT treaty does not explicitly prohibit the ground-based anti-satellite weapons that China and Russia have already fielded. Nor does the proposed treaty prevent the deployment of space-based weapons under the cloak of civilian or commercial capabilities. The PPWT does not even prohibit the development, testing, or stockpiling of weapons on Earth that could be quickly put into orbit. Instead, the treaty calls for “transparency and confidence-building measures” implemented on a “voluntary basis.” In other words, Beijing and Moscow want the United States to trust but never verify.

• Moscow habitually seeks to use international arms control treaties to constrain the United States, while viewing treaty strictures as optional when they become inconvenient or when the Kremlin sees an opportunity to seize a military advantage. For more than a decade, Moscow used the ‘Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty’ to constrain the United States while the Kremlin produced, flight-tested, and fielded a ground-launched intermediate-range cruise missile in direct contravention of the treaty.

• Beijing usually avoids any type of international arms control treaties. The willingness of the Chinese Communist Party to support the PPWT is, therefore, cause for some additional reflection.

• Instead of falling prey to China and Russia’s PPWT trap, the United States must work with allies to improve the resilience and redundancy of spaced-based military and intelligence capabilities. “There are really no norms of behavior in space,” said General John Raymond, chief of space operations at US Space Force. “It’s the wild, wild West.”

• In December, the U.N. General Assembly passed a British-introduced resolution that seeks to establish “norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviors” in space, which could reduce the chances for dangerous miscalculation. The vote was 164 in favor, 12 opposed. Those opposing this resolution included China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Saying one thing and doing the opposite is, unfortunately, common in international

diplomacy. Beijing and Moscow, however, seem to have a unique proclivity for the practice.

Consider the actions of the United States’ two great-power adversaries when it comes to anti-satellite weapons. China and Russia have sprinted to develop and deploy both ground-based and space-based weapons targeting satellites while simultaneously pushing the United States to sign a treaty banning such weapons.

To protect its vital space-based military capabilities—including communications, intelligence, and missile defense satellites—and effectively deter authoritarian aggression, Washington should avoid being drawn into suspect international treaties on space that China and Russia have no intention of honoring.

The Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (PPWT), which Beijing and Moscow have submitted at the United Nations, is a perfect example. PPWT signatories commit “not to place any weapons in outer space.” It also says parties to the treaty may not “resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects” or engage in activities “inconsistent” with the purpose of the treaty.

**China’s PLA training with anti-satellite weapon**

On the surface, that sounds innocuous. Who, after all, wants an arms race in space?

The reality, however, is that China and Russia are already racing to field anti-satellite weapons and have been for quite some time. “The space domain is competitive, congested, and contested,” Gen. James Dickinson, the head of U.S. Space Command, said in January. “Our competitors, most notably China and Russia, have militarized this domain.”

Beijing already has an operational ground-based anti-satellite missile capability. People’s Liberation Army units are training with the missiles, and the U.S. Defense Department believes Beijing “probably intends to pursue additional [anti-satellite] weapons capable of destroying satellites up to geosynchronous Earth orbit.” That is where America’s most sensitive nuclear communication and missile defense satellites orbit and keep watch.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Senator Marco Rubio Talks About UFOs Over Military Installations

April 3, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Leia Idliby March 23, 2021 (mediaite.com)

• On March 22nd, at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., the guerrilla news organization TMZ accosted US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL, pictured above) to ask for his comment on the impending unclassified UFO report that Rubio’s Senate Committee on Intelligence has requested from the Pentagon and government intelligence community within the next couple of months. “It’s common sense, right?” responded Rubio. “There’s stuff flying over military installations, and nobody knows what it is and it isn’t ours.”

• So should we be worried about potential foes from a galaxy far, far away? “I think the worry is that there’s stuff flying over our facilities and we don’t know what they are,” said the Senator. “You know what I mean? So that’s the concern. Maybe it’s the other logical explanation to it.”

• The TMZ reporter then asked Rubio if aliens or China imposed a bigger threat to the United States. Rubio answered by again stating that we don’t know who or what these UFOs are. “There’s stuff flying over the top of our military installations and they don’t know who’s flying it, they don’t even know who it is,” Rubio added. “So that’s a problem. We need to find out if we can.”

• Rubio did remark that the aliens must be smarter than humans if they “made it all the way here” but “we can’t get there.” “We don’t know what that stuff is that’s flying over the top of our installations, let’s find out,” he added. “Maybe it’s another country and that would be bad news too.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) shared his thoughts on aliens with TMZ — revealing he is worried about UFOs flying near United States military bases.

TMZ stopped the senator, a member of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, at Reagan National Airport on Monday, noting that the government is now required to release a report detailing everything officials know about UFOs.

“There’s stuff flying over military installations, and nobody knows what it is and it isn’t ours,” he said, adding that it’s logical to want to identify these unidentified flying objects. “It’s common sense, right?”

So should we be worried about potential foes from a galaxy far, far away? Rubio seems to think so.

“I think the worry is that there’s stuff flying over our facilities and we don’t know what they are,” said the senator. “You know what I mean? So that’s the concern. Maybe it’s the other logical explanation to it.”

The TMZ reporter went as far as to ask Rubio if aliens or China imposed a bigger threat to the United States, prompting the senator to repeat that he does not know what the object was.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Private Chinese Firm to Build Space Lab by 2025

March 27, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Deng Xiaoci and Fan Anqi March 14, 2021 (globaltimes.cn)

• In July 2019, China’s manned Tiangong-2 space lab completed 1000 days in orbit before the spacecraft was allowed to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The communist state’s first permanent manned space station is to become operational by 2022.

• Now, a private Chinese space technology start-up firm based in Huzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province has entered the space arena. ‘Rocket Pi’ is working putting a manned space station biology lab into orbit by 2025. The firm’s founder, Cheng Wei, says that the lab will conduct studies relating to changes in human vital signs in space to support the development of future manned space activities.

• In September 2021, a biology experiment platform, ‘Sparkle-1’, is expected to be launched via a Long March carrier rocket. A multi-functional platform supporting biological experiments may be put into orbit by 2022. By 2025, a reusable payload that is able to shuttle between Earth and space objects will provide platforms for in-orbit biopharmaceutical experiments.

• The Rocket Pi space station will also test a self-generating bioregenerative life support system (BLSS) to study the feasibility of long-term human stays on the Moon or other celestial bodies. “The moon lab project simulates a lunar base where humans, animals, plants and microorganisms co-exist in a closed cabin,” said chief designer Liu Hong. “[W]ater and food are recycled within the lab, creating an Earth-like environment.”

• In 2017-2018, eight volunteers took turns living in a 150-square-meter cabin for 370 days as an experiment to study the participants’ physical and mental conditions. Currently, smaller BLSS equipment is being studied, which could be loaded onto space labs as well as Moon and Mars probes.

• By the end of 2022, Rocket Pi plans to launch its own rockets into space, and is currently developing a wide range of launch vehicles to support launches for various payloads of different weights into Low Earth Orbit and into a sun-synchronous orbit. These flexible, reusable rockets will transform the future of space exploration, says Cheng, to support a range of new space infrastructure programs including space labs, satellite-based internet networks and a microbial pharmacy research platform.

• Although these are the very early days, Rocket Pi’s goal of building a space biology laboratory to provide commercial space technology products and services for the biomedical industry heralds the rise of a private commercial aerospace industry in China.

• China has been considering the establishment of an ‘Earth-Moon space economic zone’ by 2050, generating up to $10 trillion a year. Bao Weimin, director of the Science and Technology Commission of the state space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, revealed the ambitious plan during a seminar on the space economy in November 2019. Bao pledged to complete basic research on key technologies before 2030, establish the transportation system by 2040, and have the Earth-moon space economic zone up and running by 2050.

As China has scheduled 11 launch missions in the next two years for the building of

**bioregenerative life support system (BLSS)**

its first space station, a private space technology start-up based in Huzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province has been keeping its pace close to the national program, with an ambitious goal of initiating an orbital space biology lab around 2025, firm founder Cheng Wei told the Global Times on Sunday.

It aims to conduct studies relating to changes in humans’ vital signs in space to explore the development of future manned space missions, while also planning to

load a self-generating life support system onboard its lab to study the feasibility of long-term human stays on moon or other extraterrestrial bodies.

Named after rocket plus the Greek symbol representing the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, Cheng’s firm, Rocket Pi, has a four-step framework toward its ambitious goals.

**Bao Weimin, director of the Science and Technology division of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp**

A single-function biology experiment platform payload, Sparkle-1, is expected to be launched via a Long March carrier rocket by September, while a multi-functional platform supporting biological experiments may be put into orbit by 2022. The company will establish a space shuttle-like mode for platform launches during the same period.

Next, by 2025, reusable payload that is able to shuttle between Earth and celestial bodies will become reality, which will provide platforms for in-orbit experiments for biopharmaceutical studies.

The company aims to launch a program to build the space biology lab after 2025.

Against the backdrop of China putting the construction of a space station, which is expected to become operational by 2022, Rocket Pi aims to conduct studies relating to changes in human vital signs in space to explore and support the development of future manned space activities.

According to material that the company provided to the Global Times, its spacecraft will be very much like China’s manned Tiangong-2 space lab, which successfully left orbit and re-entered the atmosphere in July 2019 in a controlled manner after more than 1,000 days in service, with a small amount of debris falling into a designated security area in the South Pacific Ocean. Most of the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Space Force Weighing Options to Space Attacks

March 12, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Rachel S. Cohen March 3, 2021 (airforcemag.com)

• During a National Press Club event on March 3rd, Chief of Space Operations General John W. “Jay” Raymond said that U.S. officials are trying to hash out the ground rules for space combat. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for what could be considered an act of war or a ‘proportional response’. “I think it depends on the strategic context that’s going on in the world,” said Raymond.

• There’s no such thing as a “space war,” Raymond said. “It’s just war. How nations might choose to conduct operations in that war, that conflict, either on the sea, or in the air, or on the ground, or now in space, … is just integrated into that larger strategic conflict.”

• “You can’t put weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and you can’t militarize a planet, a celestial body. Other than that, there’s no rules,” Raymond said. That ambiguity may complicate global discussions of norms of behavior in outer space. Space Force is trying to drive that conversation to constrain bad behavior and shape a common understanding of what’s acceptable on orbit. “I’m not naive to think, if there was a set of norms of behavior, that everybody’s going to follow them,” said Raymond.

• “The challenge for space strategists is to anticipate how this gradual shift from… information operations to physical operations will proceed,” a recent report on space defense from the Center for Strategic and International Security (CSIS) pointed out. “Further analysis and gaming are needed to explore… when it is advantageous (or not) to do nothing in response to an attack or threat of attack.”

• Though Space Force is quick to note various technologies in development by China, Russia and others that could look to damage U.S. assets, Raymond declined to talk about what offensive and defensive capabilities his service has in the works. The CSIS report recommended that Space Force own “non-kinetic active defenses, such as onboard jamming and lasing systems, … to thwart kinetic attacks against high-value satellites.”

• “A physical seizure capability should also be explored,” the report added, “that could double as a (non-aggressive) inspector and on-orbit servicing satellite,” such as the Russian spacecraft which Moscow said was an inspector satellite and test-fired an anti-satellite weapon in space last year.

• Raymond noted that Space Force will debut its plan for streamlining the Pentagon’s space acquisition agencies in “another week or so,” and that he expects to see a Space Force dress uniform prototype in about a month. Officials will finalize which parts of the Army and Navy departments will transfer to the Space Force in the next couple of months.

• Despite less discussion on the subject from the Biden White House, the federal government’s renewed emphasis on space superiority and exploration hasn’t waned, Raymond said. “This is not a political issue,” he stressed. “This is about our national security and the foundation of all instruments of national power, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to build this service.”

U.S. officials are trying to hash out the ground rules for extraterrestrial combat more than a year after standing up a Space Force to fend off threats on orbit.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for what actions by a satellite could be considered an act of war. Proportional response in a war that extends to space will depend on a broader context than earlier conflicts where the U.S. might respond to a barrage of rockets with its own airstrike, the Space Force’s top general said March 3. The U.S. could counter a satellite attack with a strike in cyberspace or against terrestrial facilities, for example.

“I think it depends on the strategic context that’s going on in the world,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond said during an event hosted by the National Press Club.

There’s no such thing as a “space war,” he said—it’s just war.
“How nations might choose to conduct operations in that war, that conflict, either on the sea, or in the air, or on the ground, or now in space, … is just integrated into that larger strategic conflict,” Raymond said.

That ambiguity may complicate global discussions of norms of behavior in outer space as more countries grow their civil, military, and industrial presence away from Earth. The Space Force is trying to drive that conversation to constrain bad behavior and shape a common understanding of what’s acceptable on orbit.

“You can’t put weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and you can’t militarize a planet, a celestial body. Other than that, there’s no rules,” Raymond said. “I’m not naive to think, if there was a set of norms of behavior, that everybody’s going to follow them.”

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Poll Shows Public’s Priorities in Space

March 9, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Marcia Smith February 25, 2021 (spacepolicyonline.com)

• A survey of 2,200 American adults conducted February 12-15, 2021 by ‘Morning Consult’ ranked space research and exploration 25th in a list of 26 priorities for the Biden Administration. It appears that the public wants the government to focus its space research agenda on monitoring Earth’s climate, and not human exploration of the Moon and Mars. But a he same time, the public also wants the U.S. to keep its competitive edge in space over countries like Russia and China. Ranking the most threatening countries in space, respondents viewed China the biggest threat to the U.S at 52 percent, Russia next at 45 percent, North Korea at 34 percent, and Iran at 30 percent.

• With regard to activities in space, monitoring the Earth’s climate system is the top priority 35 percent of those surveyed. In second place is monitoring asteroids that might threaten Earth and third was developing technologies that could be used broadly, not only for space. At the bottom of the list of 10 possible priorities was sending civilians to the Moon or Mars, which was a priority for only 6 percent of the people polled. The public is slightly more amenable to sending professional astronauts to the Moon or to Mars, but not civilians.

• Regarding NASA’s Artemis program aiming to return people to the Moon and go on to Mars, only 33 percent of the participants rate the Moon goal as a top or important priority and 24 percent for Mars. When considering Jared Isaacman’s proposal to hold a lottery for people to join him on Inspiration4 in a space flight (see previous ExoArticle), 58 percent said they were unlikely to travel to space even if price was no object. Most of those polled supported Biden’s decision to keep the US Space Force many said they did not know as they felt they weren’t “up to speed” on the government’s space efforts.

A new poll from Morning Consult finds that the public wants the government to focus its space research agenda on monitoring Earth’s climate, not human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Overall it ranked space research and exploration 25th in a list of 26 priorities for the Biden Administration. However, it also wants the United States to keep its competitive edge in space over countries like Russia and China.

The top priority was monitoring Earth’s climate system for 35 percent of those surveyed, while it was “important, but lower priority” for 28 percent, “not too important of a priority” for 18 percent, “should not be done” for 7 percent, and “don’t know/no opinion” for 11 percent.

Second was monitoring asteroids that might threaten Earth and third was developing technologies that could be used broadly, not only for space.

At the bottom of the list of 10 possible priorities was sending civilians to the Moon or Mars. That was a top priority for just 6 percent, important for 18 percent, not too important for 39 percent, should not be done for 24 percent, and 12 percent did not know or had no opinion.

Ranking just above that was sending “astronauts” to the Moon or to Mars, which apparently refers to professional astronauts as compared to the general public. NASA is embarked on the Artemis program with commercial and international partners to return people to the Moon and go on to Mars, although according to this survey only 33 percent rate the Moon goal as a top or important priority and 24 percent for Mars.

Also of interest, especially as entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is testing the waters of public interest in flying into space by choosing a person by lottery to join him on Inspiration4, of those surveyed 58 percent said they were unlikely to travel to space themselves even if price was no object.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Russia and China Ready to Sign Deal to Build First Moon Base, Snubbing US

March 6, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Olivia Burke February 18, 2021 (thesun.co.uk)

• On February 11th, the Russian Federation announced plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China to collaborate on a series of International Lunar Research Stations (ILRS) or ‘Moon bases’, as proposed by the Chinese. Both countries will carry out preparatory research throughout the 2020s with the aim of establishing Moon bases at the Moon’s south pole in the early 2030s. The bases will initially be populated by robots and will provide a long-term presence on the Moon for short crewed missions in the early 2030s, and a longer-term sustained human presence anticipated to begin between 2036-2045. The U.S. has not been asked to participate.

• The Chinese and Russians plan to use the lunar base to aid the “construction and operation of human’s first sharing platform in the lunar south pole, supporting long-term, large-scale scientific exploration, technical experiments and development and utilization of lunar resources.” The robotic base will potentially incorporate the expertise of other nations as well, who will contribute their own spacecrafts.

• Pand Zhihao, a former researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology, praised, “Russia’s expertises, including liquid oxygen kerosene engine technology as well as a complete, world-beating system for astronaut training, will all no doubt accelerate the program’s advancement.” Russia’s state corporation for space activities, Roscosmos, said the official announcement set to coincide with the Global Space Exploration Conference in 2021, held in St. Petersburg.

• Humans have not set foot on the Moon since the NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. The Americans have been planning to resume settlement of the Moon under the Artemis Accords, pledging to send astronauts back there by 2024. The Russians, however, do not favor the Artemis Accords because it proposes a global legal framework for mining on the Moon, which the Russians liken to colonialism. Roscosmos’ deputy general director for international cooperation, Sergey Saveliev, remarked, “There have already been examples in history when one country decided to start seizing territories in its (own) interest — everyone remembers what came of it.”

• It is also believed that Russia was reluctant to back the Artemis Accords plan due to the Lunar Gateway element – a small orbiting space station and communication hub similar to the ISS. U.S. legislation implemented in 2011 prohibits China from participating with the International Space Station partnership. And it is thought that the Trump Administration further isolated the U.S. from its international allies by unilaterally creating the Space Force.

• NASA’s Artemis Accords have the cooperation and support of Australia, Canada, England, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, and the UAE. “The Artemis Accords have driven China and Russia toward increased cooperation in space out of fear and necessity,” said former Congressional legislative director Elya Taichman.

• China made history in 2019 by becoming the first country to land on the dark side of the Moon. The European Space Agency is said to be closely monitoring the ILRS program in anticipation of joining. It is feared that a China-Russia-European consortium could knock NASA off the top spot as the international leader of space exploration.

RUSSIA and China are joining forces as they prepare to sign a historic deal to build the first moon base after they snubbed the US.

The two countries are to collaborate on the international lunar structure, which was thought up by China – the latest build in the space-race against America.

The purpose of the International Lunar Research Stations (ILRS), is to create a long-term robotic presence on the Moon by the start of the next decade, before eventually establishing a sustained human presence.

An Order of the Government of the Russian Federation detailing the scheme was published on February 11, but the “date to sign the above mentioned MoU has not been determined yet and is currently discussed with the Chinese partners.”

Humans have not set foot on the moon since December 1972, when Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan made tracks on it during an

Apollo 17 mission.

Both countries will carry out the research, beginning with China’s upcoming Chang’e-6, -7, and -8 missions and Russia’s Luna 27 probe.

They plan to use the lunar base to aid the “construction and operation of human’s first sharing platform in the lunar south pole, supporting long-term, large-scale scientific exploration, technical experiments and development and utilisation of lunar resources.”

China and Russia plan that in the early 2030s, the ILRS development will theoretically provide a base for long-term robotic presence on the Moon with the potential for short crewed missions.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Space Force Exists to Meet Threats in Space Domain

February 13, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by David Vergun January 22, 2021 (defense.gov)

• Speaking at a National Security Space Association “Space Time” online event on January 22nd, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General John E. Hyten characterized the US Space Force as ‘critical’ to national security, given the threats to US access and capability in space posed by Russia and China. Critical space assets include GPS; missile warning; reconnaissance; and position, navigation and timing.

• “Russia and China are building capabilities to challenge us in space because if they can challenge us in space, …they can challenge us as a nation,” Hyten said. “Therefore, it is our responsibility as leaders of the defense enterprise to make sure that we continue to educate the population about the threats that we face and, then put forth recommendations to deal with those threats in a rapid, responsive way” – with emphasis on agility and adaptability.

• Hyten notes that Russia and China are both building antisatellite weapons and other military space assets at an alarmingly fast rate. As a result, the Pentagon has to go just as quickly in defining joint requirements and delivering capable systems to counter the threat. And in doing so, “you have to accept a certain amount of risk”.

• Hyten says there is bipartisan support for the Space Force, and he expects the newest service, along with Space Command, to continue to make great strides in the new administration.

Threats by Russia and China to deny U.S. access and capability in space make the Space Force critical to national security, said the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, spoke at an online National Security Space Association “Space Time” event today.

Critical space assets include GPS; missile warning; reconnaissance; and position, navigation and timing.

“Russia and China are building capabilities to challenge us in space because if they can challenge us in space, they understand as dependent as we are in space capabilities that they can challenge us as a nation,” Hyten said.

“Therefore, it is our responsibility as leaders of the defense enterprise to make sure that we continue to educate the population about the threats that we face and, then, put forth recommendations to deal with those threats in a rapid, responsive way,” he said.

In a time of conflict, DOD must deny adversaries access to space while maintaining its own freedom to maneuver in that domain, he mentioned.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE