A 19-story Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance streaks across the sky after lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida Jan. 23, 2014. With the 3.8-ton Boeing-built Tracking and Data Relay Satellite perched on its nose, the rocket blazed through clear, star-filled skies as it headed southeast over the Atlantic Ocean toward orbit. PHOTO: REUTERS/MIKE BROWN
Washington Post: A fight to protect ‘the most valuable real estate in space’
The first salvo was a missile launch by the Chinese in 2007 that blew up a dead satellite and littered space with thousands of pieces of debris. But it was another Chinese launch three years ago that made the Pentagon really snap to attention, opening up the possibility that outer space would become a new front in modern warfare.
This time, the rocket reached close to a far more distant orbit — one that’s more than 22,000 miles away — and just happens to be where the United States parks its most sensitive national security satellites, used for tasks such as guiding precision bombs and spying on adversaries.
The flyby served as a wake-up call and prompted the Defense Department and intelligence agencies to begin spending billions of dollars to protect what Air Force Gen. John Hyten in an interview called the “most valuable real estate in space.”
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Update #1: The Pentagon is spending $2 billion on mysterious space weapons -- The Week
Update #2: US Prepares For Space War With China, Russia: Pentagon Bolsters Outer Space Defense Program -- IBTimes
Update #3: War in Space Looks More Like an Eventuality Than Fantasy -- Robert Bateman, Esquire
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