Is There An Arms Race Brewing In Space?

U.S., China Urged To Avoid Arms Race In Space -- MSNBC

Think tank advises the two nations to pursue diplomatic options

WASHINGTON - China's demonstrated anti-satellite capability makes it critical for Washington to work with Beijing to avoid an arms race in space, a leading U.S. think tank said on Thursday.

The Council on Foreign Relations report, "China, Space Weapons, and U.S. Security," urges the next U.S. administration to update policy for "an era where space is a potentially far more contested domain than in the past, with few rules."

China's destruction of one of its defunct weather satellites in January 2007 showed the Chinese military's ability to attack satellites, the report said. The United States and former Soviet Union demonstrated that capability in the 1980s.

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My Comment: The Chinese not only expect to have a space program, but they expect it to be a program that will pass what the Russian and NASA programs have achieved. Because of U.S. success in using space to coordinate bomb strikes and UAV flights in their military operations on Iraqi and Afghan insurgents, the Chinese (and others) are going to try to neutralize this American strategic advantage.