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Given recent public statements and military assessments, such as the Air
Force's Vision 2020 report, the deployment of space weapons has the air of
inevitability. The weaponization of outer space is controlled through
norms and treaties, most notably the 1967 Outer Space Treaty which
prohibited the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in space and was
signed by 97 countries, including the United States. The treaty bans
weapons of mass destruction from space, defined as "nuclear weapons or any
other kinds of weapons of mass destruction." Space weapons fall into
three general categories: those that would defend against ballistic
missile attacks, those that attack or defend satellites, and those that
would strike terrestrial targets. Proponents of space weaponization argue
that since the United States spends 65% of the world expenditure on
commercial satellites and approximately 95% of the world expenditure on
military space uses, the government must provide for defensive measures to
protect such assets. Space weapons could also be used to make preemptive
strikes against enemy targets and, possibly, to defend against missile
attack. The stakes are high. In addition to the great expense and
difficulty involved in developing space weapons, a race with China to
weaponize space might be in the offing. Critics suggest that inexpensive
technologies could thwart costly space weapons and that the U.S. should
take the lead in updating the Outer Space Treaty to ensure that space is
kept weapons free.
This month CIAO examines the issue of space weapons.
From CIAO's database:
Securing Outer Space for the Future Strategic Considerations for Pugwash
Lost in Space: The Misguided Drive Toward Antisatellite Weapons
Would Space-Based Defenses Improve Security? - Summer 2002 (PDF)
Should the United States "Weaponize" Space? Military and Commercial Implicatons
Existing Legal Constraints on Space Weaponry
Outside Links*:
Space Weapons Earth Wars - A RAND publication
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1209/
Union of Concerned Scientists Ð Countermeasures Video
http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=realimpact/ucs/sdi_animation/ucs_mds.smi
Air Force Vision 2020
http://www.af.mil/library/posture/vision/
Federation of American Scientists Space Policy Project
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/
* Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine [http://www.archive.org/].
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