Now the US wants control of
space By Julian Coman in
Washington (Filed: 08/06/2003)
The United States is planning to take control of
parts of space and develop patrolling military aircraft in orbit as
part of a revived Star Wars proposal for an American military empire
above the ozone layer.
According to James Roche, the US Air Force Secretary,
America's allies would have "no veto power" over projects designed
to achieve American military control of space.
The key theme of the ambitious plans is described as
"negation" - the denial of the use of space for military
intelligence, or other purposes, without American endorsement.
The plans come after the successful use of global
positioning satellites (GPS) and other space technology during the
recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the
intelligence agency that is responsible for US spy satellites, is to
develop a strategy that ensures America's allies, as well as its
enemies, never gain access to the same space resources without
Washington's permission. Recent proposals that have been circulated
at Space Command and NRO briefings suggest that access to
"near-earth space" may be refused to other nations.
All GPS satellites are located within near-earth
space, which covers the orbital distance from Earth to the moon. A
fleet of spacecraft will be developed, designed to attack and
destroy future satellites of enemies and rivals. The rapid-launch
"military space plane," the potential cost of which has not been
disclosed, would also be used as a mobile "bodyguard" for US space
installations. It would be the first "space plane" in history with a
directly military function.
A prototype is expected by 2005 although military
deployment is not expected before 2014. "It will hopefully be a new
kind of vehicle, equipped for the challenges of the future," said a
Pentagon official.
After the recent military action in Afghanistan and
Iraq, US Air Force Command claimed that American forces on the
ground had a decisive advantage in gathering intelligence and
targeting enemy troop positions.
As a result, the Pentagon believes that the struggle
to control space will form the next stage of a global arms race.
Its plans confirm that America expects space to be
"weaponised" in the medium-term future, and is determined to take an
unassailable technological lead.
Two years ago, a report commissioned by Donald
Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, warned of the danger of a "Space
Pearl Harbor" if America did not take action to protect itself.
At America's National Space Symposium, held in April
in Colorado Springs, Gen Lance Lord, the commander of US Air Force
Space Command, explained the logic of the new strategy to a largely
military audience.
"The pursuit of asymetric advantage is not new," he
said. "In the 20th century, airpower emerged as just such an
advantage. Today, at the outset of the 21st century, we are
realising the same sort of advantage through space power."
It was at the same forum that Mr Roche warned
America's allies not to expect any veto over its plans.
Until now, international treaties have forbidden the
deployment of weapons in outer space, although a loophole exists
which allows the United States to use its satellites for military
intelligence.
The 1967 Space Treaty - the first international
legislation on space exploitation - also stated that outer space
should be free for exploration and use by all states, and would not
be subject to national appropriation by occupation or any other
means.
Last month, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei
Ivanov, repeated Moscow's demands for the complete demilitarisation
of space.
In March last year, however, Peter Teets, the
under-secretary of the air force and director of the NRO, said: "I
believe that weapons will go into space. It's a question of time.
And we need to be at the forefront of that."
A Department of Defence Review in 2001 also stated
that "a key objective [for the US] is not only to ensure US ability
to exploit space for military purposes but also as required to deny
an adversary's ability to do so". Canadian government officials have
already complained that senior American officials have begun to
exclude them from sensitive areas of joint aerospace defence
operations.
The implications of an American military monopoly in
space are bound to concern European allies, who have recently agreed
to launch their own $3.2billion satellite navigation system -
Galileo - which is to be used only for civilian purposes.
Europe has long resisted the prospect of a military
use of space technology.
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defence
Initiative - the so-called "Star Wars" plan - to use space
technology to repel Soviet missiles, ending the era of nuclear
deterrence, drew fierce resistance from allies.
President George W Bush's plans for a
satellite-guided missile defence system have now largely been
accepted.
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