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“Echoes of Apollo” by George Thompson is the sort of space faring technothriller that Tom Clancy would have been proud to have placed his name on if he was still alive. The novel is a near future story of what amounts to the first space war between China and the United States. “Echoes of Apollo” not only involve the sort of cutting edge technological toys inherent in the genre, but also makes clever use of the technology of the past. The story also casts a new light on the ongoing debate as to whether or not to return to the...

China most likely conducted its January 2007 anti-satellite weapon test in the Kuerle region of western Xinjiang province, according to a report by the Kanwa Asian Defense news service. The service reported June 1 that “reconnaissance satellite intelligence” identified “facilities that have appeared to the South of Kuerle.” Large phased array radar antenna are located in a desert region to the south of Kuerle. The two phased array radar are similar to the Arrow II ballistic missile interception system designed by Israel, the report said. Additionally, China’s Second Artillery, which is in charge of all missiles, has a missile test...

In the movie “Space Cowboys,” Clint Eastwood plays a test pilot/engineer who leads a group of aging astronauts on a mission to retrieve a nuclear-armed satellite, which had been put into space by a Soviet Union that then ceased to exist. It was, at least in small part, a case of art imitating life. During the Cold War, both superpowers contemplated the deployment of nuclear weapons in space. However, Moscow did more than contemplate. During the 1960s, the USSR had an operational system ready to go into orbit to attack the United States. This weapon was a combined low-flying missile...

THE CASE FOR SPACE-BASED DEFENSE The growing interest in nuclear technology by countries such as Iran presages the possibility that one or more nations may attempt to harness such a capability in the form of an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack against the United States, a prominent political scientist has warned. Such a scenario, writes Brian Kennedy of the Claremont Institute in the November 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal, is not far-fetched. "It would require the Iranians to be able to produce a warhead as sophisticated as we expect the Russians or the Chinese to possess. But that is...

The nation that made it to the Moon in 12 years now struggles to build a satellite in that time and is at risk of losing its preeminence in space. Those words come from one of the top four space intelligence lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, chairman of the House Select technical and tactical intelligence subcommittee, who spoke before an audience of some 1,200 intelligence practitioners and industry at the Geoint annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. Ruppersburger noted that 20 years ago the U.S. had 70 percent of the commercial satellite market which is now down to...

Watch as General Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and apparently Jack Bauer's older brother) shows how the Aegis missile launches and successfully destroys the rogue spy satellite. [Via Gizmodo]

Space warfare will be an integrated part of battle planning by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in any future conflict. One of the major proponents of integrated space power for the PLA, Major General Cai Fengzhen, believes that "control of portions of outer space is a natural extension of other forms of territorial control," such as sea or air control.[1] More seriously, because of American superiority in space, China's military theorists treat the United States as the most likely opponent in that domain of war. The head of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Lieutenant General Kevin...

Friday, March 23, 2007 9:32 a.m. EDTGen. Pace: China Missile Test 'Confusing' China's anti-satellite missile test in January sent a confusing message to the world about its military plans, the United States' top military officer said on Friday, urging Beijing to be more open. Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States would like to observe more Chinese exercises and suggested a hot line between the two militaries could be useful. China shot down an aging weather satellite on January 11, but waited more than a week before officially confirming...

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph said yesterday that China’s January 11, 2007 test of an anti-satellite weapon that left orbiting debris threatening U.S. and foreign satellites proving that space is a “contested environment.” Mr. Joseph said that “countries are developing capabilities to put at risk our assets for which we are dependent,” he said. The U.S. military is heavily dependant upon satellites for intelligence gathering, missile attack warning, navigation, communications and scores of other uses. U.S. commerce and communications are also heavily reliant upon satellites. China’s January 11 test used a rocket launched from earth to...

Space experts have confirmed a report that China successfully tested a new anti-satellite weapon last week, firing the weapon to destroy one of its own old satellites. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.The report of a new Chinese space weapon first appeared in the publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. And on Tuesday the director of the private Center for Defense Information, space security expert Theresa Hitchens, said she and other specialists have been able to confirm it. "There has been some confirmation through the tracking data of the satellite that's been released by the U.S. Air Force. And...

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...

Arms Experts Worried at Pentagon Push for Superiority Arms control advocates in the United States and abroad are expressing concern with the Bush administration's push for military superiority in space. A series of Pentagon doctrinal papers, released over the past year, have emphasized that the U.S. military is increasingly dependent on space satellites for offensive and defensive operations, and must be able to protect them in times of war. The Air Force in August put forward a Counterspace Operations Doctrine, which described "ways and means by which the Air Force achieves and maintains space superiority" and has worked to develop...

Pakistan, China to collaborate on new high-techology park BEIJING: For the economic development and industrialisation of Pakistan, a department of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology called the Torch Centre has agreed to help set up a high-tech park in Pakistan. Initial negotiations were held between the two sides after a proposal from the Pakistani science minister, Dr Atta ur Rehman during his recent visit to China. A Pakistan Embassy official of told APP that the two sides would need to sign bilateral cooperation agreement for the project to go ahead. Team of experts from the China Torch Centre...

Iraq and Afghanistan aside, the Bush administration has not lost sight of the goal of making the U.S. the premier nation in star wars weaponry, says James Ridgeway in his Mondo Washington column in the Village Voice. "We need to prepare for new forms of terrorism, to be sure," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in a post-9/11 speech, "but also attacks on U.S. space assets, cyber attacks on our information networks, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and nuclear, chemical and biological weapons." And the president stands foursquare behind his hard-charging secretary of defense. Fresh in office, Bush outlined his ambitious...

Universe as Doughnut: New Data, New Debate By DENNIS OVERBYE Long ago in the dawn of the computer age, college students often whiled away the nights playing a computer game called Spacewar. It consisted of two rocket ships attempting to blast each other out of the sky with torpedoes while trying to avoid falling into a star at the center of the screen. Although cartoonish in appearance, the game was amazingly faithful to the laws of physics, complete with a gravitational field that affected both the torpedoes and the rockets. Only one feature seemed outlandish: a ship that drifted off...