![]() began testing anti-satellite weaponry in the late 1950s. Fearing Soviet nuclear weapons launched from orbit, the U.S. “But let me make it very clear: we will defend our space assets if attacked.” The U.S., he says, is willing to work with Russia and China to keep space secure. “The bottom line is the United States does not want conflict in outer space,” says Frank Rose, assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance, who has led American diplomatic efforts to prevent a space arms race. The failure has placed diplomatic solutions for the growing threat in limbo, likely leading to years of further debate within the UN’s General Assembly. ![]() is also attempting to tackle the problem through diplomacy, although with minimal success in late July at the United Nations, long-awaited discussions stalled on a European Union-drafted code of conduct for spacefaring nations due to opposition from Russia, China and several other countries including Brazil, India, South Africa and Iran. In response to these possible threats, the Obama administration has budgeted at least $5 billion to be spent over the next five years to enhance both the defensive and offensive capabilities of the U.S. Lasers can be used to temporarily disable or permanently damage a satellite’s components, particularly its delicate sensors, and radio or microwaves can jam or hijack transmissions to or from ground controllers. A spacecraft could simply approach a satellite and spray paint over its optics, or manually snap off its communications antennas, or destabilize its orbit. There are many ways to disable or destroy satellites beyond provocatively blowing them up with missiles. satellites, referring to a series of Chinese anti-satellite missile tests that began in 2007. China in particular, Clapper said, has demonstrated “the need to interfere with, damage and destroy” U.S. satellites, saying that China and Russia are both “developing capabilities to deny access in a conflict,” such as those that might erupt over China’s military activities in the South China Sea or Russia’s in Ukraine. ![]() Testifying before Congress earlier this year, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper echoed the concerns held by many senior government officials about the growing threat to U.S. ![]() The long-simmering tensions are now approaching a boiling point due to several events, including recent and ongoing tests of possible anti-satellite weapons by China and Russia, as well as last month’s failure of tension-easing talks at the United Nations. And though it might begin in space, such a conflict could easily ignite full-blown war on Earth. superiority in space with ambitious military space programs of their own, the power struggle risks sparking a conflict that could cripple the entire planet’s space-based infrastructure. Now, as China and Russia aggressively seek to challenge U.S. For militaries that rely on some of those satellites for modern warfare, space has become the ultimate high ground, with the U.S. About 1,300 active satellites wreathe the globe in a crowded nest of orbits, providing worldwide communications, GPS navigation, weather forecasting and planetary surveillance. The emptiness of outer space might be the last place you’d expect militaries to vie over contested territory, except that outer space isn’t so empty anymore. ![]() To see it, just look up into a clear sky, to the no-man’s-land of Earth orbit, where a conflict is unfolding that is an arms race in all but name. In fact, it cannot be located on any map of Earth, even though it is very easy to find. The world’s most worrisome military flashpoint is arguably not in the Strait of Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, Iran, Israel, Kashmir or Ukraine. ![]()
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