Space policy
A new National Space Policy signed by President George Bush in October last year asserts that the United States has the right to conduct whatever research, development and "other activities" in space that it deems necessary for its own national interests. The new policy further warns that the US will take those actions necessary to protect its space capabilities "and deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile" to those interests. The document adds: "Space activities have improved life in the United States and around the world, enhancing security, protecting lives and the environment, speeding information flow serving as an engine for economic growth and revolutionising the way people view their world and the cosmos." "Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power", the policy assets in the introduction.
In those portions of the new policy document that have been made public- the first full revision of overall US space policy in 10 years-there is no specific mention of the weaponisation of space. It says the US' priorities are to "strengthen the nation's space leadership" and to enable "unhindered US operations in and through space to defend our interests there". But the policy also claims that national security is "critically" dependent upon space capabilities. As a result it calls on the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, to "develop and deploy space capabilities that sustain US advantage and support defence and intelligence transformations".
The deployment of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction are prohibited by the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty.(bold mine) In October 2005 the US voted against a UN resolution calling for the banning of weapons in space and has repeatedly resisted efforts to hold negotiations on the issue at the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament. Theresa Hitchens, director of the Center for Defense Information in Washington, said that the new policy "kicks the door a little more open to a space-war fighting strategy" and has a "very unilateral tone to it."
The Missile Defense Agency is expected to start space-based interceptor test bed experiments in 2008. The test bed experiments would investigate "distributing sensing and command and control," an area that is important because of the technical challenges involved in building a space-based defence. Funding for this is included in the agency's future years defence plan, beginning in FY 08.
Former UN weapons chief and chair of the Sweden-based Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, Hans Blix, has advocated a 40th anniversary review of the Outer Space Treaty, which entered into force in 1967 (see International Herald Tribune, (9 May), http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/09/ europe/EU-GEN-Austria-Space-Treaty.php. He argues that a review conference is needed to strengthen the treaty and extend its scope. Further reading: