Militarisation of space

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A ground-based interceptor, designed to destroy incoming ICBMs, is lowered into its silo at the missile defence complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, July 22, 2004.
A ground-based interceptor, designed to destroy incoming ICBMs, is lowered into its silo at the missile defence complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, July 22, 2004.

The militarisation of space is the placement and development of weaponry and military technology in outer space.

Contents

[edit] History

Acquisition of the high ground for military advantage has been a perennial feature of military campaigns. For thousands of years, military tacticians have exploited the concept of "capturing" or "keeping" the high ground in military campaigns. Fortifications were built on high points, with walls that enabled archers to rain down deadly volleys. Mobile towers served as siege weapons. Ships were equipped with crow's nests that facilitated long-range reconnaissance. Hot air balloons were lofted by Napoleon and during the American Civil War to observe troop movements. The initial utility of aircraft was perceived to be for high level reconnaissance, followed by measures to deny the same. Thus battles for control of the environment were the next logical progressionRefN-1. Aircraft revolutionised warfare during the twentieth century, leading to "command of the air" as a key strategic concept. By extension, following the shooting down of high altitude aircraft like the U-2, the quest for safer observation went further into space. The same principal of denial led to initial struggles for control of the environment of space and both the US and the FSU conducted exercises for controlling the realm of space with nuclear and conventional devices such as anti-satellite weapons (ASATs). Thus, the militarisation of space took place during the 1960s, and is now evolving into weaponisation of space with actual placement of weapons by the US for decisive military advantage. Militarisation of space seems to be the next step in this endless struggle to gain higher ground than the enemy. The idea of placing weapons in space can be found first in 20th century science fiction stories, but it was not until World War II and the Cold War that such concepts became reality.

[edit] World War II and the V-2 rocket

Main articles: World War II and V-2 rocket.

As early as 1927 members of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR) ("Spaceflight Society") had started experimenting with liquid-fuelled rockets. Rockets using a solid propellant had been used as weapons by all sides in WWI, and as a result, the Treaty of Versailles forbade solid fuel rocket research in Germany. By 1932 the Reichswehr started taking notice of their developments for potential long-range artillery use, and a team led by General Walter Dornberger was shown a test vehicle designed and flown by Wernher von Braun. Although the rocket was of limited ability, Dornberger saw von Braun's genius and pushed for him to join the military.

Von Braun did so, as eventually did most of the other members of the society. In December 1934 von Braun scored another success with the flight of the A2 (A for Aggregat) rocket, a small model powered by ethanol and liquid oxygen, with work on the design continuing in an attempt to improve reliability. Many different liquid fuels had been developed, but the German military specifically encouraged the use of ethanol as a rocket fuel because Germany had always been hampered by a shortage of crude-oil-based fuels. Throughout WWII a wide variety of military rockets were fuelled by ethanol that was primarily derived from potatoes.

By 1936 the team had moved on from the A2 and started work on both the A3 and A4. The latter was a full-sized design with a range of about 175 km (110 miles), a top altitude of 80 km and a payload of about a tonne. This increase in capability had come through a complete redesign of the engine by Walter Thiel. It was clear that von Braun's designs were turning into real weapons.

The A3 proved to be problematic, and a redesign was started as the A5. This version was completely reliable, and by 1941 the team had fired about 70 A5 rockets. The first A4 flew in March 1942, flying about 1.6 km and crashing into the water. The second launch reached an altitude of 11 km before exploding. The third rocket, launched on October 3, 1942, changed things by following its trajectory perfectly. It landed 193 km away, and became the first man-made object to enter space. Production started in 1943 on the wonder weapon Vergeltungswaffe 2 (reprisal weapon 2), or the V-2 as it became better known, at the insistence of Goebbels' propaganda ministry.

[edit] The Cold War

The Syncom satellites set major milestones in space communications, Syncom 2 was the first geosynchronous satellite, Syncom 3 was placed in the first geostationary orbit.
The Syncom satellites set major milestones in space communications, Syncom 2 was the first geosynchronous satellite, Syncom 3 was placed in the first geostationary orbit.
For more details on this topic, see Cold War.

During the Cold War, the world's two great superpowers — the Soviet Union and the United States Of America — spent large proportions of their GDP on developing military technologies. In 1957, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. The ability to place objects in orbit stimulated space research in the United States and started the Space Race.

By the end of the 1960s, both countries regularly deployed satellites. Spy satellites were used by militaries to take accurate pictures of their rivals' military installations. As time passed the resolution and accuracy of orbital reconnaissance alarmed both sides of the iron curtain. Both the United States and the Soviet Union began to develop anti-satellite weapons to blind or destroy each others satellites. Laser weapons, kamikaze style satellites, as well as orbital nuclear explosion were researched with varying levels of success. Spy satellites were, and continue to be, used to monitor the dismantling of military assets in accordance with arms control treaties signed between the two superpowers. To use spy satellites in such a manner is often referred to in treaties as "national technical means of verification".

The superpowers developed ballistic missiles to enable them to use nuclear weaponry across great distances. As rocket science developed, the range of missiles increased and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were created, which could strike virtually any target on Earth in a timeframe measured in minutes rather than hours or days. In order to cover large distances ballistic missiles are usually launched into sub-orbital spaceflight. An intercontinental missile's altitude halfway through delivery is ca. 1200 km.

Test of the LG-118A Peacekeeper missile, each one of which can carry 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads along trajectories outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
Test of the LG-118A Peacekeeper missile, each one of which can carry 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads along trajectories outside of the Earth's atmosphere.

As soon as intercontinental missiles were developed, military planners began programmes and strategies to counter their effectiveness. Early American efforts included the Nike-Zeus Program, Project Defender, the Sentinel Program and the Safeguard Program. The late 1950’s Nike-Zeus Program involved firing Nike nuclear missiles against oncoming ICBMs thus exploding nuclear warheads over the North Pole. This idea was soon scrapped and work began on Project Defender in the 1960’s. Project Defender attempted to destroy Soviet ICBMs at launch with satellite weapon systems, which orbited over Russia. This programme proved unfeasible with the technology from that era. Work then began on the Sentinel Program which used anti-ballistic missiles (ABM) to shoot down incoming ICBMs. The Safeguard Program was deployed in the mid 1970's and was based on the Sentinel Program. Since the ABM treaty only allowed for construction of a single ABM facility to protect either the nation's capital city or an ICBM field, the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was constructed near Nekoma, North Dakota to protect the Grand Forks ICBM facility. Though it was only operational as an ABM facility for less than a year, the Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR), one of Safeguard's components, is still operational as of 2005. One major problem with the Safeguard Program, and past ABM systems, was that the interceptor missiles, though state of the art, required nuclear warheads to destroy incoming ICBMs. Future ABMs will likely be more accurate and utilize hit-to-kill or conventional warheads to knock down incoming warheads. The technology involved in such systems was shaky at best, and deployment was limited by the ABM treaty of 1972.

In 1983 American president Ronald Reagan proposed the "Strategic Defense Initiative" — a space-based system to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear missiles. The plan was ridiculed by some as unrealistic and expensive, and Dr. Carol Rosin nicknamed the policy "Star Wars", after the popular sci-fi movie franchise. The late astronomer Carl Sagan, among others, pointed out that in order to defeat "Star Wars", the Soviet Union had only to build more missiles. So that during a nuclear war the Soviet Union could throw more warheads at the United States and penetrate the "Star Wars" defence barrier by the brute force of numbers. Proponents of the "Star Wars" policy champion the strategy of technology for hastening the Soviet Union's downfall. According to this viewpoint, Communist leaders were forced to either shift large portions of their GDP to counter perceived "Star Wars" weapon systems or watch as their expensive nuclear stockpiles were rendered obsolete.

Militarisation of space was not limited to ICBMs or an American "Stars Wars" weapon system. The Soviet Union was also researching innovative ways of gaining space supremacy. Two of their most notable efforts were the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) and Polyus orbital weapons system.

FOBS was a Soviet ICBM in the 1960s that once launched would go into a low Earth orbit where upon it would de-orbit for an attack. This system would create a path to North America over the South Pole, striking targets from the opposite direction from which NORAD early warning systems are oriented. The missile was phased out in January 1983 in compliance with the SALT II treaty.

The SALT II treaty (1979) prohibited the deployment of FOBS systems:

Each Party undertakes not to develop, test, or deploy:
(...)
(c) systems for placing into Earth orbit nuclear weapons or any other kind of weapons of mass destruction, including fractional orbital missiles;

On May 15, 1987, an Energia rocket flew for the first time. The payload was a prototype orbital weapons platform Polyus (also known as Polus, Skif-DM or 17F19DM), the final version of which according to some reports could be armed with nuclear space mines and defensive cannon. The Polyus weapons platform was designed to defend itself against anti-satellite weapons with recoilless cannon. It was also equipped with a sensor blinding laser to confuse approaching weapons and could launch test targets to validate the fire control system. The attempt to place the satellite into orbit failed.

[edit] Post-Cold War

A Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP), which attaches to a modified SM-2 Block IV missile used by the U.S. Navy
A Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP), which attaches to a modified SM-2 Block IV missile used by the U.S. Navy

As the Cold War ended with the implosion of the Soviet Union the space race between the two superpowers ended. The United States of America was left as the only superpower on Earth with a large concentration of the world's wealth and technological advancement. Despite the United States' new status in the world, the monopoly of space militarisation is in no way certain. Countries such as China, Japan, and India have begun their own space programmes, while the European Union collectively works to create satellite systems to rival those of the United States. Several intellectuals, business and political leaders in the USA designed a policy to ensure a global US monopoly on land, sea, air and space militarisation for the twenty-first century, called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). Many of its members became part of the George W. Bush administration.

Post Cold War space militarisation seems to revolve around three types of applications. (The verb "seems" is used because much of this subject matter is classified state secrets.) The first application is the continuing development of spy or reconnaissance satellites from the Cold War era. Spy satellites perform a variety of missions such as high resolution photography (IMINT), communications eavesdropping (SIGINT), and covert communications (HUMINT). These tasks are used on a regular basis both in military wartime operations, and during times of peace. Spy satellites are also used to alert national leaders to nuclear testing of other states; such was the case when India and Pakistan revealed to the world their nuclear capabilities. Nevertheless, spy satellites are not a fool-proof surveillance tool as proved by the Indians when they fooled the entire panapoly of US spy satellites and conducted their nuclear tests with the US and the rest of the world glibly unaware.Ref N-1 Nevertheless, Early Warning satellites can also be used to detect missile launches as was the case during Desert Storm when America was able to forewarn Israel of Iraqi scud missile launches.

Types of spy satellites

The second application of space militarisation currently in use is GPS or Global Positioning System. The US military refers to it as NAVSTAR GPS - Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System. This satellite navigation system is used for determining one's precise location and providing a highly accurate time reference almost anywhere on Earth or in Earth orbit. It uses an intermediate circular orbit (ICO) satellite constellation of at least 24 satellites. The GPS system was designed by and is controlled by the United States Department of Defense and can be used by anyone, free of charge. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of aging satellites. The first of 24 satellites that form the current GPS constellation (Block II) was placed into orbit on February 14, 1989. The 52nd GPS satellite since the beginning in 1978 was launched November 6, 2004 aboard a Delta II rocket. The primary military purposes are to allow improved command and control of forces through improved location awareness, and to facilitate accurate targeting of smart bombs, cruise missiles, or other munitions. The satellites also carry nuclear detonation detectors, which form a major portion of the United States Nuclear Detonation Detection System. On May 1, 2000, US President Bill Clinton announced that "Selective Availability" may be used to jam civilian GPS units in a war zone or global alert while allowing military units to use GPS as they saw fit. However, European concern about the level of control over the GPS network and commercial issues has resulted in the planned Galileo positioning system. Russia already operates an independent system called GLONASS (global navigation system), although with only twelve active satellites as of 2004, the system is of limited usefulness.

The third current application of militarisation of space can be demonstrated by the emerging military doctrine of network-centric warfare. Network-centric warfare relies heavily on the use of high speed communications which allows all soldiers and branches of the military to view the battlefield in real-time. Real-time technology improves the situational awareness of all of the military’s assets and commanders in a given theatre. For example, a soldier in the battle zone can access satellite imagery of enemy positions two blocks away, and if necessary e-mail the coordinates to a bomber or weapon platform hovering overhead while the commander, hundreds of miles away, watches as the events unfold on a monitor. This high-speed communication is facilitated by a separate internet created by the military for the military. Communication satellites hold this system together by creating an informational grid over the given theatre of operations. The Department of Defense is currently working to establish a Global Information Grid to connect all military units and branches into a computerised network in order to share information and create a more efficient military.

[edit] Space treaties

As both sides stagnated under the pressures of mutual assured destruction (MAD) blocs of countries worked together to avoid extending the threat of nuclear weapons to space based launchers.

[edit] Outer Space Treaty

Main article: Outer Space Treaty

The Outer Space Treaty, considered by the Legal Subcommittee in 1966. Later that year, agreement was reached in the General Assembly. The treaty included the following principles:

  • the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;
  • outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;
  • outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;
  • States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;
  • the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes;
  • astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind;
  • States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental activities;
  • States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and
  • States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

In summary, the treaty initiated the banning of signatories' placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the treaty and it entered into effect on 10 October 1967. As of January 1, 2005, 98 States have ratified, and an additional 27 have signed the Outer Space Treaty.

[edit] Space Preservation Treaty

Main article: Space Preservation Treaty

The Space Preservation Treaty is a proposed treaty to ban all space weapons. The proposal has little support from the current US government and is unlikely to be ratified in the near future.

[edit] National Missile Defense (NMD)

Main article: National Missile Defense
The logo of the Missile Defense Agency
The logo of the Missile Defense Agency

With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War defense spending was reduced and space research was chiefly focused on peaceful research. American military research is focused on a more modest goal of preventing the United States from being subject to nuclear blackmail or nuclear terrorism by a rogue state.

On 16 December 2002, US President George W. Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive which outlined a plan to begin deployment of operational ballistic missile defense systems by 2004. The following day the US formally requested from the UK and Denmark use of facilities in RAF Fylingdales, England and Thule, Greenland, respectively, as a part of the NMD Program. The administration has continued to push the program, despite publicized failures and the objections of some scientists who oppose it. The projected cost of the program for the years 2004 to 2009 will be 53 billion US dollars, making it the largest single line in The Pentagon's budget.

[edit] Quotations

  • "Control of space means control of the world." —Vice President Lyndon Johnson, 1961
  • "It's politically sensitive, but it's going to happen. Some people don't want to hear this, and it sure isn't in vogue, but — absolutely — we’re going to fight in space. We're going to fight from space and we're going to fight into space. That’s why the US has development programs in directed energy and hit-to-kill mechanisms. We will engage terrestrial targets someday — ships, airplanes, land targets — from space." - Commander-in-Chief of US Space Command (1994-1996), Joseph W. Ashy

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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