Weaponization of space

weaponization of space . . .

"Long-term Trend" 1999

"The Pentagon's long-range thinker, Andrew Marshall, made a rare public appearance Thursday to discuss the future of warfare. Mr. Marshall, director of the nondescript but powerful Office of Net Assessment, said the nation's ability to project power over long distances will remain 'the fundamental task.' The drawback of America's long military reach is that it is driving more nations to seek nuclear weapons and long-range missiles capable of reaching U.S. soil. And Mr. Marshall believes they will succeed.

"'The long-term trend is that nations are seeking new forms of strategic attack,' Mr. Marshall told a small group of defense experts at the Brookings Institution. 'More and more countries will have longer-range missiles that they can use to attack a capital or a society. We are going to live in a world where many more countries have the ability to attack from a distance.' ... information warfare - the capability of attacking computer networks from afar - will be part of it, he said. So will space warfare. Attacks against communications satellites and other space assets are 'inevitable,' Mr. Marshall said." -- Drudge Report, October 1999.

• In particular, see The Future of Space. The Next Strategic Frontier. "Weapons in Space", Eisenhower Institute.

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Bush administration: return to space
• cosmozation
• Directed Energy Weapons
• European Space Agency
• Joint Vision 2010
• NASA
• Project Woodpecker
• Radio Frequency Identification
• revolution in military affairs
• Space Preservation Act of 2001
• State of the Union 2004
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), frequently referred to as "Star Wars"

External Links

• Military Space, Federation of American Scientists.
• President George W. Bush's Space Road Map: "A Renewed Spirit of Discovery".
• President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program. Remarks by the President on U.S. Space Policy and President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program. Fact Sheet: A Renewed Spirit of Discovery, NASA Headquarters, January 14, 2004.
• Bob Glissmann and Michaela Saunders, Space plan bold yet vague. Star treks and the next generation: Can we rekindle the'60s excitement? The plan so far Ways of getting to Mars, Omaha World Herald (Nebraska), January 15, 2004.
• Michael Freedman, Shootout in the Skies, Forbes.com, January 15, 2004.
• Jim Wolf, U.S. eyes space as possible battleground, Reuters, January 18, 2004: "Under a 1996 space policy adopted by then-President Bill Clinton that remains in effect, the United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer space 'by all nations for peaceful purposes for the benefit of all humanity.'"
• Eli Kintisch, Nuclear Space Travel: Atomic Energy Can Get Us Farther Faster, Experts Say, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), January 18, 2004.
• Edmund L. Andrews, Investing in the Future, and Mortgaging It, New York Times, January 18, 2004.
• Zachary Coile, Bush's plans for space finding few boosters. Costly proposal faces rebuff from GOP, Democrats, San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 2004.
• Jeremy Singer, Air Force Document Envisions Variety of Anti-Satellite Weapons, Space News, February 23, 2004.
• Steve Gutterman, "Russia Against 'Militarization of Space'," AP, June 2, 2005: "Taking aim at the United States, Russia's defense minister (Sergei Ivanov) Thursday threatened retaliatory steps if any country puts weapons in space and said Moscow won't negotiate controls over tactical nuclear arms with nations that deploy them abroad, Russian media reported."