'Star Wars' missile test heralds new arms race in space

The 1997 report of the National Defense Panel concluded, “Unrestricted use of space has become a major strategic interest of the United States” and the NRO recently hinted that the US is looking for full spectrum dominance in outer space and that they plan "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."

This full spectrum dominance of outer space is seen as "both the hallmark and the instrumentality of American superpower".

It is therefore something of a shock to find that the Chinese have launched a missile into space which has knocked out a satellite. Nor was this entirely unpredicted or unforeseen as this report from Gabriele Garibaldi bears witness to.

Space, the key to the balance of power in the twenty-first century.

As shown, China has the aim to equip itself with the necessary means to look after its own interests and be able to withstand a conflict with the USA. In spite of the (ephemeral) alliance in fighting the Fundamental Islamic terrorism after 9/11, China considers the USA a hegemonic power that limits its development to its own area of influence. China’s ambition, therefore, is to assert itself as the alternative power to America currently in Asia, and to establish with the United States a relationship on equal terms in a multipolar international system.

It was typical of the arrogance that leads the entire neo-con movement that they would have attempted to claim control over space exclusively for the use of the US and her allies, and it was only a matter of time before someone seriously challenged this ridiculous notion.

Reagan, of course, kicked this off with his ill fated Star Wars project; and Bush has carried on pursuing ways to knock out ballistic weapons before they reach their target. Indeed, Bush last year published his National Space Policy which reserved for the US the right to continue developing such technology, to which the Chinese objected.

The National Space Policy stated:

The United States rejects any claims to sovereignty by any nation over outer space or celestial bodies, or any portion thereof, and rejects any limitations on the fundamental right of the United States to operate in and acquire data from space;

It was fairly controversial stuff and typical of the way the neo-cons have sought to ride roughshod over the rest of the planet. Indeed, the Bush administration was known to be considering putting weapons into space, a tactic that the US has avoided doing for the last forty years.

"I believe that weapons will go into space. It's a question of time. And we need to be at the forefront of that," Pete Teets, Undersecretary of the Air Force and Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, told a March 6 conference in Washington.¹ While Teets, who is now the Pentagon's lead official for procurement of space programmes, was careful to say that no policy decision to put weapons in space has yet been made, his views reflect a consensus among top Air Force leaders - and indeed, among military officials across the board. The prevailing wisdom in all branches of the services is that "conflict in space is inevitable."

This view underlies the policy statements on space so far emerging from the Bush administration. For example, the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), released on October 1, 2001, cites the need to improve space systems as one of six critical goals of military transformation - thus placing top priority on the issue within the Pentagon. The Review states: "A key objective...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."

The Americans have reacted with alarm and anger at the Chinese action.

“The US believes China’s development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of co-operation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area,” Mr Johndroe said. “We and other countries have expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese.”

This comment is made despite the fact that the US is developing it's own laser technology to do exactly what the Chinese have just done; knock out satellites.

Bush may have his hands full with Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Chinese have just given him a whole new headache. Unless Bush agrees to Chinese demands and enters into negotiations regarding the future use of space by all nations, it is likely that Russia and the EU will also enter into this new arms race.

It is well known that the Bush administration abhors negotiations and that they prefer to act as something akin to the Roman Empire, but in this case their bluff has been well and truly called. They would do well to enter into negotiations immediately if for no other reason than one nation demanding complete control of outer space is, in itself, an outrage.

However, if Bush acts as he has done in the past, we can now expect a full scale arms race to develop. I, for one, do not expect him to change his ways.

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tag: US, China, Star Wars, outer space, satellites,