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It's been a long wait—in some ways, more than 50 years—but in April 2010, the U.S. Air Force is scheduled to launch an Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the newest U.S. spacecraft, the unmanned X-37, to orbit. The X-37 embodies the Air Force's desire for an operational spaceplane, a wish that dates to the 1950s, the era of the rocket-powered X-15 and X-20. In other ways, though, the X-37 will be picking up where another U.S. spaceplane, NASA's space shuttle, leaves off.

Apollo was the ultimate strategic gesture of the Cold War. Few people were fooled by the plaque NASA put on the leg of the lunar lander that read: "We came in peace for all mankind." America went to the moon to achieve a technological and propaganda-laden victory over the USSR. It was one of the decisive moments in the confrontation with communism. In the middle of the Vietnam War, when the U.S. was despised abroad and demoralized at home, the Apollo 11 mission raised the national spirit.

After 40 years of unwavering official pacifism Japan is poised to overturn its ban on the militarisation of space. Within the next month, the nation whose constitution renounces the use of force in settling international disputes will be allowed formally to direct its massive industrial and scientific communities to what it now calls the challenges of “changing global security situations”. The officially sanctioned use of space for military purposes will build on Japan’s longstanding civil space programme, which is regularly accused by Japanese peace activists and foreign governments of including military elements. It is an open secret that since the...

In last week's space spectacular, a U.S. missile did more than turn a dead satellite into bits of space scrap. It also blew another hole in hopes that the world's nations could forge a treaty making outer space a weapons-free realm, analysts say.Wednesday's orbiter shootdown by a U.S. Navy missile came just eight days after Russia and China, at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, submitted a draft treaty to ban weapons from space.

Beijing is looking to take the lead in an increasingly militaristic space race, and it wants Washington to keep out. China plans to launch more than 10 spaceships and satellites this year, Agence France Presse has reported. This will be a record number of spacecraft for China, coming after 16 launches over the past two years. The announcement, made by China Academy of Space Technology chief Yang Baohua, comes at a time when tension is high over the military use of space. The United States announced late last week that it was preparing to shoot down a defunct reconnaissance satellite...

A chance December 11, 2007 release of a photo on a Chinese website has led to a rare unofficial “declassification” of a new Chinese unmanned test space plane.[1] Designated the “Shenlong,” or Divine Dragon, this small aircraft was shown suspended from the fuselage of a Xian H-6 bomber and launch aircraft. So far there has been no official Chinese government, PLA or Chinese corporate or space program related disclosure about this program. However, from this photo and other Chinese sources, it is possible to conclude that the Shenlong constitutes a second Chinese air-launched space-launch vehicle (SLV) program, but for the...

HONG KONG, Oct. 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)—A Chinese submarine will send test signals that could change the course of a satellite when China launches its first moon orbiter, as part of the country's effort to develop space war technology, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said two survey ships are deployed in the South Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean to send signals to maneuver the lunar exploration satellite, expected to be launched Wednesday. At the same time, a nuclear-powered submarine will send simulated signals to the satellite as a test, it...

In May the Pentagon issued its “Annual Report to Congress on the Military Power of the People’s Republic of China.” The absence of an explicit overarching Chinese “grand strategy,” the ambiguity of China’s “no first use” policy on nuclear weapons, its red lines regarding intervention in Taiwan, and the vagueness of its definition of what would constitute an attack on its sovereignty or territory are all highlighted in the report. The same goes for the possibility that much of this is due not only to “uncertainties, disagreements, and debates that China’s leaders themselves have about their own long-term goals and...

Outer space is emerging as a possible theater of operations for China's armed forces, an analysis published in the mass-circulation People's Daily said Wednesday. The analysis, authored by a group of unnamed researchers at the National Defense University, listed space as an area where the People's Liberation Army must be equipped and prepared to defend the nation's interests. "Our military should not only protect China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but should also protect the oceans and transport routes and other economic interests as well as ... the security of space," it said.

The US military is relying ever more on space satellites to help wage combat in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, though analysts say that Washington's space supremacy could be threatened by rivals in the future. The Pentagon is using sophisticated satellites that orbit Earth in a bid to track down its enemies and keep a round-the-clock watch on unfriendly foes. The technological advantage can prove lethal, as witnessed by the recent air raid that killed the long-wanted Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "Space capabilities have revolutionized the way we fight today by providing our forces with battlefield situational...

China’s escalating expertise in space is also enhancing its competence as a global military force. Along with lofting future radar, ocean surveillance, and high-resolution photoreconnaissance satellites, China’s rise as a space power also includes pursuit of an offensive anti-satellite system. Those observations are included in a new report—Military Power of the People’s Republic of China: A Report to Congress—issued by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense. The annual Pentagon report issued late last month addresses the current and future military strategy of the People’s Republic of China. It takes a look at the current and probable future course...

After weeks of delay, the military X-37 space plane went through its first free flight through the skies over California's Mojave Desert today and landed autonomously at Edwards Air Force Base. That's the good news from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The bad news is that the vehicle experienced an "anomaly" and went off the runway, DARPA spokeswoman Jan Walker told me. Fortunately, only minor damage was done, she said. The X-37 was carried up from the Mojave Airport by Scaled Composites' White Knight airplane, the same mothership that bore SpaceShipOne into the sky for its historic private-sector...

Editor, the Tribune: When Noam Chomsky recently visited Columbia, he spoke of the Bush administration’s "imperial mentality." As one example of that phenomenon, he referred to the Pentagon’s plan for "total spectrum dominance" of planet Earth that calls for complete U.S. military superiority on land, sea and air and in space. Chomsky said the U.S. Space Command’s blueprint for the weaponization of space with offensive laser guns, particle beams and several other works of the devil is likely to be the most destabilizing factor in the future of the ongoing international arms race. As with many other "crackpot" plans for...

Destruction of enemy satellites with high-powered ground-based lasers is among weapon systems the U.S. Defense Department reportedly wants to test in space. The Pentagon is seeking funding for these tests which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, reports the Boston Globe citing federal budget documents. The department's budget proposal is for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Other tests for creating a space battlefield would include a missile launched at a small satellite in orbit and a small space vehicle that could disperse weapons while traveling at 20 times the speed of sound, the report said. The Globe report...

The military's role in deterring attacks on commercial satellites is set to be strengthened in the first broad overhaul of U.S. space policy in a decade, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. The policy would remove any ambiguity about official responsibility for figuring out who was behind any attack on U.S.-owned commercial satellites, said Air Force Col. Anthony Russo, head of the U.S. Strategic Command's space division. Russo said recent drafts of the policy, which he said could be announced within months, did not rule out weapons in space. Instead, they speak of taking "all appropriate measures to defend our...

Northrop Grumman has been selected to develop "military-grade," Solid-State Laser technology that is expected to pave the way for the U.S. military to incorporate high-energy laser systems across all services, including ships, manned and unmanned aircraft, and ground vehicles.

The US Air Force has just put out a request for proposal for a "Gaming and Training Environment for Counter Space Operations." In other words, they're ready for Ender's Game. Or maybe Space Wars. The proposed intent of the software is to develop tactics, techniques and procedures relating to four key tasks: detect, identify, track and disrupt activities from space vehicles. In part, the request states:

AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin will build a prototype High Altitude Airship under a $149.2 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency. The contract marks the beginning of the program's third phase, leading to prototype delivery and flight in 2009. Operating at 60,000 feet, the prototype will demonstrate launch and recovery, station-keeping and flight-control capabilities while carrying mission re-configurable payloads, Lockheed said. "The HAA delivers a persistent surveillance capability unmatched by any other platform," said Ron Browning, Lockheed Martin business development director responsible for the High Altitude Airship. "The HAA combines a variety of advanced technologies to...

On May 18th an article in the New York Times set off a thunderstorm of controversy over “space weaponization.” The Air Force is seeking some changes and clarifications to the soon-to-be-released updated version of the 1996 national space policy. This, in fact, left open the door for US space weapons but didn’t do much else. The space weapons fight may have more to do with the politics of liberal think tanks and their fundraising skills than with anything the Pentagon is actually planning to do, at least in the near term. In early 2001, the Rumsfeld Commission, established before he...

For more than a decade, the military utilization of space has become all the more important in warfighting. Since the Gulf War of 1991, using space assets has enabled air, land, and sea forces and operations to be far more effective. Space power has changed the face of warfare. So much so, particularly for the United States, skirmishes of the 21st century cannot be fought and won without space capabilities. That reliance has led to a key action item for U.S. space warriors: How best to maintain and grow the nation’s space superiority and deny adversaries the ability to use...