Militarisation of space

Last updated

A Ground-Based Interceptor, designed to destroy incoming Intercontinental ballistic missiles, is lowered into its silo at the missile defence complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, July 22, 2004. Interceptor Missile.jpg
A Ground-Based Interceptor, designed to destroy incoming Intercontinental ballistic missiles, is lowered into its silo at the missile defence complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, July 22, 2004.

The militarisation of space involves the placement and development of weaponry and military technology in outer space. The early exploration of space in the mid-20th century had, in part, a military motivation, as the United States and the Soviet Union used it as an opportunity to demonstrate ballistic-missile technology and other technologies having the potential for military application. Outer space has since been used as an operating location for military spacecraft such as imaging and communications satellites, and some ballistic missiles pass through outer space during their flight. As of 2018, known deployments of weapons stationed in space include only the Almaz space-station armament and pistols such as the TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol (for post-landing, pre-recovery use).

Contents

History

The Cold War

During the Cold War, the world's two great superpowers—the Soviet Union and the United States of America—spent large proportions of their GDP on developing military technologies. The drive to place objects in orbit stimulated space research and started the Space Race. In 1957, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 .

By the end of the 1960s, both countries regularly deployed satellites. Reconnaissance satellites were used by militaries to take accurate pictures of their rivals' military installations. As time passed the resolution and accuracy of orbital reconnaissance alarmed both sides of the Iron Curtain. Both the United States and the Soviet Union began to develop anti-satellite weapons to blind or destroy each other's satellites. Directed-energy weapons, kamikaze-style satellites, as well as orbital nuclear explosives were researched with varying levels of success. Spy satellites were, and continue to be, used to monitor the dismantling of military assets in accordance with arms control treaties signed between the two superpowers. To use spy satellites in such a manner is often referred to in treaties as "national technical means of verification".

The superpowers developed ballistic missiles to enable them to use nuclear weaponry across great distances. As rocket science developed, the range of missiles increased and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were created, which could strike virtually any target on Earth in a timeframe measured in minutes rather than hours or days. To cover large distances ballistic missiles are usually launched into sub-orbital spaceflight.

Test of the LG-118A Peacekeeper missile, each one of which could carry 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads along trajectories outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Peacekeeper-missile-testing.jpg
Test of the LG-118A Peacekeeper missile, each one of which could carry 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads along trajectories outside of the Earth's atmosphere.

As soon as intercontinental missiles were developed, military planners began programmes and strategies to counter their effectiveness.

United States

Early American efforts included the Nike-Zeus Program, Project Defender, the Sentinel Program and the Safeguard Program. The late 1950s Nike-Zeus programme involved firing Nike nuclear missiles against oncoming ICBMs, thus exploding nuclear warheads over the North Pole. This idea was soon scrapped and work began on Project Defender in 1958. [1] Project Defender attempted to destroy Soviet ICBMs at launch with satellite weapon systems, which orbited over Russia. This programme proved infeasible with the technology from that era. [1] Work then began on the Sentinel Program which used anti-ballistic missiles (ABM) to shoot down incoming ICBMs.

In the late 1950s United States Air Force considered detonating an atomic bomb on the Moon to display U.S. superiority to the Soviet Union and the rest of the world (Project A119). In 1959, a feasibility study of a possible military base on the Moon (Project Horizon) was conducted. In 1958, a plan for a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 was developed (Lunex Project).

The Safeguard Program was deployed in the mid-1970s and was based on the Sentinel Program. Since the ABM treaty only allowed for construction of a single ABM facility to protect either the nation's capital city or an ICBM field, the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was constructed near Nekoma, North Dakota to protect the Grand Forks ICBM facility. Though it was only operational as an ABM facility for less than a year, the Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR), one of Safeguard's components, was still operational as of 2005. One major problem with the Safeguard Program, and past ABM systems, was that the interceptor missiles, though state-of-the-art, required nuclear warheads to destroy incoming ICBMs. Future ABMs will likely be more accurate and use hit-to-kill or conventional warheads to knock down incoming warheads. The technology involved in such systems was shaky at best, and deployment was limited by the ABM treaty of 1972.

In 1983, American president Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based system to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear missiles. The plan was ridiculed by some as unrealistic and expensive, and Dr. Carol Rosin nicknamed the policy "Star Wars", after the popular science-fiction movie franchise.[ citation needed ] Astronomer Carl Sagan pointed out that in order to defeat SDI, the Soviet Union had only to build more missiles, allowing them to overcome the defence by sheer force of numbers.[ citation needed ] Proponents of SDI said the strategy of technology would hasten the Soviet Union's downfall. According to this doctrine, Communist leaders were forced to either shift large portions of their GDP to counter SDI, or else watch as their expensive nuclear stockpiles were rendered obsolete.

United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), a unified command of the United States military, was created in 1985 to help institutionalise the use of outer space by the United States Armed Forces. The Commander in Chief of U.S. Space Command (CINCUSSPACECOM), with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado was also the Commander in Chief of the bi-national U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (CINCNORAD), and for the majority of time during USSPACECOM's existence also the Commander of the U.S. Air Force major command Air Force Space Command. Military space operations coordinated by USSPACECOM proved to be very valuable for the U.S.-led coalition in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.[ citation needed ]

The U.S. military has relied on communications, intelligence, navigation, missile warning and weather satellite systems in areas of conflict since the early 1990s, including the Balkans, Southwest Asia and Afghanistan. Space systems are considered indispensable providers of tactical information to U.S. war-fighters.

As part of the ongoing initiative to transform the U.S. military, on 26 June 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced that U.S. Space Command would merge with USSTRATCOM. The UCP directed that Unified Combatant Commands be capped at ten, and with the formation of the new United States Northern Command, one would have to be deactivated in order to maintain that level. Thus the USSPACECOM merger into USSTRATCOM.

On December 10, 2019, the United States Space Force was formed as the world's only independent space force, with 8600 military personnel [2] and 77 spacecraft. [3]

Operation Hardtack I

Operation Hardtack I was a series of nuclear tests carried out by the United States Government in 1958. A major facet of these tests was three high-altitude nuclear tests: YUCCA, ORANGE, and TEAK. YUCCA was detonated April 28 at an altitude of 86,000 feet and had a comparatively small yield of 1.7 kilotons. YUCCA is notable as the first nuclear test carried via balloon. Following tests ORANGE and TEAK were carried out July 31 and August 11 at altitudes of 252,000 feet and 141,000 feet, respectively. The bombs were delivered via rocket and their yields were in the megaton range. [4]

Starfish Prime

Starfish Prime was a nuclear test carried out in 1962 over Johnston Atoll by the United States as part of Operation Fishbowl. The 1.4 megaton bomb was detonated at an altitude of 400 km (250 miles), in the ionosphere and was the highest altitude nuclear test ever demonstrated. The test is notable for its Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) effect, which was felt as far as 1400 km (800 miles) away in Hawaii. [5]

USSR/Russia

Polyus (1987). Polo (Polyus).png
Polyus (1987).

The Soviet Union was also researching innovative ways of gaining space supremacy. Two of their most notable efforts were the R-36ORB Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) and Polyus orbital weapons system.

The R-36ORB was a Soviet ICBM in the 1960s that, once launched, would go into a low Earth orbit whereupon it would de-orbit for an attack. This system would approach North America over the South Pole, thereby striking targets from the opposite direction from that to which NORAD early warning systems are oriented. The missile was phased out in January 1983 in compliance with the SALT II treaty.

The SALT II treaty (1979) prohibited the deployment of FOBS systems:

Each Party undertakes not to develop, test, or deploy:
(...)
(c) systems for placing into Earth orbit nuclear weapons or any other kind of weapons of mass destruction, including fractional orbital missiles;

On May 15, 1987, an Energia rocket flew for the first time. The payload was a prototype orbital weapons platform Polyus (also known as Polus, Skif-DM or 17F19DM), the final version of which according to some reports could be armed with nuclear space mines and defensive cannon. The Polyus weapons platform was designed to defend itself against anti-satellite weapons with recoilless cannon. It was also equipped with a sensor blinding laser to confuse approaching weapons and could launch test targets to validate the fire control system. The attempt to place the satellite into orbit failed.

The Russian Space Forces was the first independent space force, formed in 1992, independent from 1992 to 1997 and 2001 to 2011, however it currently now part of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Soviet high-altitude nuclear tests

The Soviet Union executed their own high-altitude tests for the purpose of studying and developing High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) weapons. The most notable of these is the 1962 Nuclear Test 184 in which a nuclear bomb was detonated at an altitude of 290 km. [6] The ensuing HEMP damaged a 1000 km long line in Kazakhstan which was designed to be protected from such damage. The electrical damage is comparable to the strongest naturally occurring geomagnetic disturbances recorded. [7]

Post-Cold War

A Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP), which attaches to a modified SM-2 Block IV missile used by the U.S. Navy Navy Theater Ballistic Missile Defense.JPG
A Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP), which attaches to a modified SM-2 Block IV missile used by the U.S. Navy

As the Cold War ended with the implosion of the Soviet Union the space race between the two superpowers ended. The United States of America was left as the only superpower on Earth with a large concentration of the world's wealth and technological advancement. Despite the United States' new status in the world, the monopoly of space militarisation is in no way certain. Countries such as China, Japan, and India have begun their own space programmes, while the European Union collectively works to create satellite systems to rival those of the United States.

The USSR Space Forces were established as the Ministry of Defense Space Units in 1982. In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated. The Russian Armed Forces were established on 7 May 1992, enabling the creation of Russian Space Forces later that year on 10 August. In July 1997, the Space Force was dissolved as a separate service arm and incorporated to the Strategic Rocket Forces along with the Space Missile Defense Forces, which previously were part of the Troops of Air Defense. The Russian Space Forces were officially reborn on June 1, 2001, as an independent section of the Russian military.

Post Cold War space militarisation seems to revolve around three types of applications. (The word "seems" is used because much of this subject matter is inconclusively verifiable, due to the high level of secrecy that exists among the great powers with regard to the details of space sensing systems.) The first application is the continuing development of "spy" or reconnaissance satellites which began in the Cold War era, but has progressed significantly since that time. Spy satellites perform a variety of missions such as high-resolution photography (IMINT) and communications eavesdropping (SIGINT). These tasks are performed on a regular basis both during peacetime and war operations. Satellites are also used by the nuclear states to provide early warning of missile launches, locate nuclear detonations, and detect preparations for otherwise clandestine or surprise nuclear tests (at least those tests or preparations carried out above-ground); this was the case when, in 1998, India and Pakistan both conducted a series of nuclear tests; in addition, a nuclear-detection satellite of the Vela type was also reported to have detected a nuclear detonation in the Indian Ocean in 1978 that was believed to be a South African nuclear test in what was famously called the Vela incident. Early-warning satellites can also be used to detect tactical missile launches; this capability was used during Desert Storm, when America was able to provide advance warning to Israel of Iraqi SS-1 SCUD missile launches.

Military satellite

Launch of the first Skynet satellite Delta-M with Skynet-1A.jpg
Launch of the first Skynet satellite

Types of Reconnaissance satellites

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Artist's conception of a Global Positioning System satellite in Earth orbit. GPS Satellite NASA art-iif.jpg
Artist's conception of a Global Positioning System satellite in Earth orbit.

The second application of space militarisation currently in use is GPS or Global Positioning System. This satellite navigation system is used for determining one's precise location and providing a highly accurate time reference almost anywhere on Earth or in Earth orbit. It uses an intermediate circular orbit (ICO) satellite constellation of at least 24 satellites. The GPS system was designed by and is controlled by the United States Department of Defense and can be used by anyone, free of charge. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of ageing satellites. The first of 24 satellites that form the current GPS constellation (Block II) was placed into orbit on February 14, 1989. The 52nd GPS satellite since the beginning in 1978 was launched November 6, 2004 aboard a Delta II rocket. The primary military purposes are to allow improved command and control of forces through improved location awareness, and to facilitate accurate targeting of smart bombs, cruise missiles, or other munitions, and spoofing or jamming location data to civilian navigation receivers during wartime. The satellites also carry nuclear detonation detectors, which form a major portion of the United States Nuclear Detonation Detection System. European concern about the level of control over the GPS network and commercial issues has resulted in the planned Galileo positioning system. Russia already operates an independent system called GLONASS (global navigation system); the system operates with 24 satellites that are deployed in 3 orbital planes as opposed to the 4 in which GPS is deployed. [8] The Chinese "Beidou" system provides China a similar regional (not global) navigation capability.

Military communication systems

The third current application of militarisation of space can be demonstrated by the emerging military doctrine of network-centric warfare. Network-centric warfare relies heavily on the use of high-speed communications, which allows all soldiers and branches of the military to view the battlefield in real-time. Real-time technology improves the situational awareness of all of the military's assets and commanders in a given theatre. For example, a soldier in the battle zone can access satellite imagery of enemy positions two blocks away, and if necessary e-mail the coordinates to a bomber or weapon platform hovering overhead while the commander, hundreds of miles away, watches as the events unfold on a monitor. This high-speed communication is facilitated by a separate internet created by the military for the military.[ citation needed ] Communication satellites hold this system together by creating an informational grid over the given theatre of operations. The Department of Defense is currently working to establish a Global Information Grid to connect all military units and branches into a computerised network in order to share information and create a more efficient military.[ citation needed ]

Military spaceplanes

It was revealed[ when? ][ how? ][ who? ] that Soviet officials were concerned that the US Space Shuttle program had such military objectives such as to make a sudden dive into the atmosphere to drop bombs on Moscow. [9] Although it is a popular myth that these concerns were part of the motivation behind pursuing their own Buran programme, [10] the actual study concerning the potential for US Space Shuttles to launch nuclear munitions into Soviet territory was released after the Buran program had already been approved. [11]

The NASA uncrewed spaceplane project X-37 was transferred to the US Department of Defense in 2004. It is unclear what its military mission is, although speculation ranges from the testing of experimental reconnaissance and spy sensors and how they hold up against radiation and other hazards of orbit. The Pentagon has denied claims that the X-37 has been, or will be, used in the development or testing of space-based weapons. [12] The USAF has confirmed that Hall thruster electric propulsion tests have been carried out using the X-37, utilizing Aerojet Rocketdyne's AEHF satellites' Hall thrusters. [13] These thrusters are 4.5 kilowatt units that utilize electricity and xenon to produce thrust by ionizing and accelerating xenon gas particles.The X-37 is akin to a space version of Unmanned aerial vehicle.

Weapons in space

Triple-barreled TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol in Saint-Petersburg Artillery museum TP-82.jpg
Triple-barreled TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol in Saint-Petersburg Artillery museum

Space weapons are weapons used in space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit (i.e. anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space. In the course of the militarisation of space, such weapons were developed mainly by the contesting superpowers during the Cold War, and some remain under development today. Space weapons are also a central theme in military science fiction and sci-fi video games.

Terrestrial-type weapons in space

The Soviet space station Salyut 3 was fitted with a 23mm cannon, which was successfully test fired at target satellites, at ranges from 500 to 3,000 metres (1,600 to 9,800 ft). [14] [15] [16]

As of 2008, it was reported that Russian cosmonauts have regularly carried the TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol on Soyuz spacecraft, as part of the emergency landing survival kit. The intent of the weapon is to protect cosmonauts from wild animals in the event of an off-course wilderness landing. The specially designed gun is capable of firing bullets, shotgun shells, or flares. [17]

High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulses (HEMP)

A high-altitude electromagnetic pulse is a result of an atmospheric nuclear explosion, as demonstrated by the United States' Starfish Prime and the Soviet Union's Nuclear Test 184. Though such explosions lack the usual damage caused by nuclear explosions such as physical damage and radioactive fallout, ensuing HEMPs have far-reaching effects on unprotected electronics.

The 1962 Starfish Prime test produced an HEMP which caused electronics to fail 1400 km (800) away in Hawaii where about 300 streetlights immediately failed. Soviet tests with HEMPs were executed above land, where a 1000 km power line was shut down, and all telephone lines within 500 km were damaged. [5]

HEMPs cause banana-shaped areas of effect, due to the pulse's interaction with the Earth's magnetic field. [18] A nuclear weapon detonated at 400 km creates an EMP 2,200 km in radius, large enough to cover the continental United States. However, any nuclear device detonated above 30 km will create an EMP of at least 600 km in radius. [19]

Space warfare

A USAF F-15 Eagle launching an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile. ASAT missile launch.jpg
A USAF F-15 Eagle launching an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile.

Space warfare is combat that takes place in outer space, i.e. outside the atmosphere. Technically, it refers to battles where the targets themselves are in space. Space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth, as well as space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites.[ citation needed ]

A film was produced by the U.S. Military in the early 1960s called Space and National Security which depicted space warfare. [20] From 1985 to 2002 there was a United States Space Command, which in 2002 merged with the United States Strategic Command. There is a Russian Space Force, which was established on August 10, 1992 and was the first independent space force in the world. [21]

Only a few incidents of space warfare have occurred in world history, and all were training missions, as opposed to actions against real opposing forces. In the mid-1980s a USAF pilot in an F-15 successfully shot down the P78-1, a communications satellite in a 345-mile (555 km) orbit.

In 2007, the People's Republic of China used a missile system to destroy one of its obsolete satellites (see 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test), in 2008 the United States similarly destroyed its malfunctioning satellite USA 193. In 2019, India destroyed a live satellite. [22] [23] and on 15 November 2021, Kosmos 1408, an old Soviet satellite was destroyed by the Russian military using a ground based missile. To date, there have been no human casualties resulting from conflict in space, nor has any ground target been successfully neutralised from orbit.

International treaties governing space limit or regulate conflicts in space and limit the installation of weapon systems, especially nuclear weapons.[ citation needed ]

Space treaties

Treaties are agreed to when all parties perceive a benefit from becoming a signatory participant in the treaty. As mutually assured destruction (MAD) became the deterrent strategy between the two superpowers in the Cold War, many countries worked together to avoid extending the threat of nuclear weapons to space based launchers.

Outer Space Treaty

The Outer Space Treaty was considered by the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1966. Later that year, agreement was reached in the United Nations General Assembly. The treaty included the following principles:

In summary, the treaty initiated the banning of signatories' placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the treaty and it entered into effect on October 10, 1967. As of January 1, 2005, 98 States have ratified, and an additional 27 have signed the Outer Space Treaty.

Note that this treaty does not ban the placement of weapons in space in general, only nuclear weapons and WMD.

Moon Treaty

The Moon Treaty (not ratified by any space capable state, though signed by some) bans any military use of celestial bodies, including weapon testing, nuclear weapons in orbit, or military bases. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. (Article 3.4)

Limited Test Ban Treaty

In 1963 the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. The treaty was a response to growing concerns over the rapidly increasing power of nuclear weapons as well as damage from radioactive fallout. The treaty banned underwater tests and atmospheric tests, and effectively banned underground nuclear tests. The treaty put an end to further testing of high-altitude nuclear tests, and by extension HEMPs. [24]

PAROS & PPTW

The Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) is a committee subsidiary to the Conference on Disarmament. The PAROS Cttee, which meets at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, has been the forum for discussion of these issues since 1985. [25]

In February 2008, China and Russia together submitted a draft to the UN known as the Treaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT). [26] [27] The US opposed the draft treaty due to security concerns over its space assets despite the treaty explicitly affirming a State's inherent right of self-defence. [28]

On December 4, 2014, the General Assembly of the UN passed two resolutions on preventing an arms race in outer space: [29]

National Missile Defense (NMD)

The logo of the Missile Defense Agency Mdalogo.jpg
The logo of the Missile Defense Agency

With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War defense spending was reduced and space research was chiefly focused on peaceful research. American military research is focused on a more modest goal of preventing the United States from being subject to nuclear blackmail or nuclear terrorism by a rogue state. This overlapped with militarization of space in the form of ballistic missile defense. Missile defense does not station weapons in space, but is designed to intercept incoming warheads at a very high altitude, which requires the interceptor to travel into space to achieve the intercept. These missiles can be land-based or sea-based, and most proposed programs use a mix of the two.

On 16 December 2002, US President George W. Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive which outlined a plan to begin deployment of operational ballistic missile defense systems by 2004. The following day, the US formally requested from the UK and Denmark use of facilities in RAF Fylingdales, England and Thule, Greenland, respectively, as a part of the NMD Program. [30] The administration continued to push the program, but received pushback from multiple fronts. Firstly, some scientists opposed the program and raised ethical objections. Secondly, some trial-and-error technical failures during development became highly publicized, though from a technical standpoint they were unsurprising and even expected. The projected cost of the program for the years 2004 to 2009 was 53 billion US dollars, making it the largest single line in The Pentagon's budget.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-ballistic missile</span> Surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles

An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles. Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" is a generic term for a system designed to intercept and destroy any type of ballistic threat; however, it is commonly used for systems specifically designed to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty</span> 1972 arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union

The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, also known as the ABM Treaty or ABMT, was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons. It was intended to reduce pressures to build more nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence. Under the terms of the treaty, each party was limited to two ABM complexes, each of which was to be limited to 100 anti-ballistic missiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intercontinental ballistic missile</span> Ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,500 kilometres

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States, Russia, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Incidentally, Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed state that does not possess ICBMs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strategic Defense Initiative</span> U.S. military defense program (1984–1993)

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. Reagan called for a system that would render nuclear weapons obsolete, and to end the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD), which he described as a "suicide pact". Elements of the program reemerged in 2019 under the Space Development Agency (SDA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballistic missile</span> Missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath

A ballistic missile (BM) is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typically stay within the Earth's atmosphere, while most larger missiles are exo-atmospheric. The largest ICBMs are capable of full orbital flight. These weapons are in a distinct category from cruise missiles, which are aerodynamically guided in powered flight and thus restricted to the atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle</span> Ballistic missile payload containing multiple warheads which are independently targetable

A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying thermonuclear warheads, even if not strictly being limited to them. An intermediate case is the multiple reentry vehicle (MRV) missile which carries several warheads which are dispersed but not individually aimed. All nuclear-weapon states except Pakistan and North Korea are currently confirmed to have deployed MIRV missile systems. Israel is suspected to possess or be in the process of developing MIRVs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-satellite weapon</span> Kinetic energy device designed to destroy satellites in orbit

Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical purposes. Although no ASAT system has yet been utilized in warfare, a few countries have successfully shot down their own satellites to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities in a show of force. ASATs have also been used to remove decommissioned satellites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States national missile defense</span> Nationwide missile defense program of the United States

National missile defense (NMD) refers to the nationwide antimissile program the United States has had development since the 1990s. After the renaming in 2002, the term now refers to the entire program, not just the ground-based interceptors and associated facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear arms race</span> Part of the Post-WWII era and the Cold War

The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuclear stockpiles, other countries developed nuclear weapons, though no other country engaged in warhead production on nearly the same scale as the two superpowers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fractional Orbital Bombardment System</span> Nuclear weapons delivery system

A Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) is a warhead delivery system that uses a low Earth orbit towards its target destination. Just before reaching the target, it deorbits through a retrograde engine burn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space warfare</span> Combat that takes place in outer space

Space warfare is combat in which one or more belligerents are in outer space. The scope of space warfare includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth; space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites; and space-to-ground warfare, such as satellites attacking Earth-based targets. Space warfare in fiction is thus sub-genre and theme of science fiction, where it is portrayed with a range of realism and plausibility. In the real world, international treaties are in place that attempt to regulate conflicts in space and limit the installation of space weapon systems, especially nuclear weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missile defense</span> System that destroys attacking missiles

Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged non-nuclear tactical and theater missiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space weapon</span> Weapons used in space warfare

Space weapons are weapons used in space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit, attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space. In the course of the militarisation of space, such weapons were developed mainly by the contesting superpowers during the Cold War, and some remain under development today. Space weapons are also a central theme in military science fiction and sci-fi video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear weapons delivery</span> Type of explosive arms

Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-altitude nuclear explosion</span> Nuclear detonations in the upper layers of Earths atmosphere

High-altitude nuclear explosions are the result of nuclear weapons testing within the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and in outer space. Several such tests were performed at high altitudes by the United States and the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1962.

On 11 January 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite missile test. A Chinese weather satellite—the FY-1C polar orbit satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of 865 kilometres (537 mi), with a mass of 750 kilograms (1,650 lb)—was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling with a speed of 8 km/s (18,000 mph) in the opposite direction. It was launched with a multistage solid-fuel missile from Xichang Satellite Launch Center or nearby.

The RS-28 Sarmat, often colloquially referred to as Satan II by media outlets, is a three-stage Russian silo-based, liquid-fueled, HGV-capable and FOBS-capable super-heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. It is intended to replace the Soviet R-36M ICBM in Russia's arsenal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interceptor Subsystem</span> American ICBM-defense technology

The Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interceptor Subsystem, or ERIS, program, was a component of the United States' Strategic Defense Initiative during the Cold War. The ERIS system was named after Eris, Greek goddess of strife. ERIS was a kinetic kill system, launched from a ground-based system, and impacting directly to destroy an incoming Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the targeted ICBM re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mission Shakti</span> First Indian anti-satellite weapon test

On 27 March 2019, India tested an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) during an operation code named Mission Shakti. The target of the test was a satellite present in a low Earth orbit, which was hit with a kinetic kill vehicle.

Project BAMBI was a project as part of the United States national missile defense.

References

  1. 1 2 William J. Broad (28 October 1986). "Star Wars Traced to Eisenhower Era". New York Times . Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  2. ↑ https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/Portals/84/documents/FY23/SUPPORT_/BOB_28Mar_1125_LoRes.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  3. ↑ https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2020/06/Spaceforce.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. ↑ Defense Nuclear Agency. (1958). United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests Nuclear Test Personnel Review. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA136819.pdf
  5. 1 2 George H Baker, I. I. I. (2011). EMP: A Brief Tutorial (Report).
  6. ↑ EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security. (January 2021). RUSSIA: EMP THREAT. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1124730.pdf
  7. ↑ Pfeffer, Robert (2009). "A Russian Assessment of Several U.S.S.R. and U.S. HEMP Tests" (PDF). Combating WMD Journal (3): 36–41.
  8. ↑ Glonass (2007-12-26). "Military space – Navigation – Glonass – Russian strategic nuclear forces". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Russianforces.org. Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  9. ↑ Garber, S. J. (2002). Birds of a Feather? How Politics and Culture Affected the Designs of the U.S. Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran Archived 2015-10-25 at the Wayback Machine . Master's thesis, Virginia Tech.
  10. ↑ Sak, Anatoly (November 20, 2008). "Buran – the Soviet 'space shuttle'". BBC News. Archived from the original on March 21, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  11. ↑ "The Space Review: Target Moscow: Soviet suspicions about the military uses of the American Space Shuttle (part 1)". www.thespacereview.com. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  12. ↑ "The Militarization of Outer Space: The Pentagon's Space Warriors". www.spacedaily.com. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  13. ↑ "New details emerge about electric propulsion experiment aboard X-37B – Spaceflight Now" . Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  14. ↑ Anatoly Zak. "OPS-2 (Salyut-3)". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01.
  15. ↑ "James Olberg, Space Power Theory, Ch. 2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  16. ↑ Широкоград А.Б. (2001) История авиационного вооружения Харвест (Shirokograd A.B. (2001) Istorya aviatsionnogo vooruzhenia Harvest. ISBN   985-433-695-6) (History of aircraft armament) p. 162
  17. ↑ "Russia has the corner on guns in space – Technology & science – Space – Human spaceflight". NBC News. 2008-02-12. Archived from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  18. ↑ Defense Atomic Support Agency. (August 1962). Project Officer's Interim Report STARFISH PRIME. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a955694.pdf
  19. ↑ Vincent., Pry, Peter (25 October 2016). The long Sunday : election day 2016 - inauguration day 2017 : nuclear EMP attack scenarios. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   978-1-5397-4647-8. OCLC   990059905.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ PBS Nova Program “Astrospies” Archived 2008-07-17 at the Wayback Machine , Broadcast February 12, 2008.
  21. ↑ Lindborg, Christina (1997). "VKS". World Space Guide. Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  22. ↑ Reuters World News Archived 2019-03-28 at the Wayback Machine , March 28, 2019
  23. ↑ Times of India Archived 2019-04-09 at the Wayback Machine India shoots into star wars club, Mar 28, 2019
  24. ↑ Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, July 26, 1963; Treaties and Other International Agreements Series #5433; General Records of the U.S. Government; Record Group 11; National Archives.
  25. ↑ "Proposed Prevention of an Arms Race in Space (PAROS) Treaty". Nuclear Threat Initiative. May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  26. ↑ DeFrieze, D. (2014). "Defining and regulating the weaponization of space". Archived 2015-02-22 at the Wayback Machine The International Relations and Security Network.
  27. ↑ Nuclear Threat Initiative (September 29, 2017). "PROPOSED PREVENTION OF AN ARMS RACE IN SPACE (PAROS) TREATY". Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  28. ↑ Su, J. (2010). The “peaceful purposes” principle in outer space and the Russia–China PPWT Proposal. Space policy, 26(2), 81–90.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 "General Assembly Adopts 63 Drafts on First Committee's Recommendation with Nuclear Disarmament at Core of Several Recorded Votes". United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-07-04.
  30. ↑ Lennon, Alexander T.J. Contemporary Nuclear Debates, (Cambridge:MIT Press), 1999, pp. 101–109.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.