Books and Essay Collections
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Defending Space
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ISBN: 9781846030390Publication Date: 2006-10-31The United States has been developing space for many years, and satellites provide the US military with an unparalleled advantage over adversaries. Constellations of both military and civilian satellites provide protection and support for military operations, deliver ballistic missile early warning, supply reliable, secure and jam-proof communications, gather audio-visual amd electronic intelligence, predict weather patterns, guide navigation, target weapons, and perform a host of other missions. These systems are critical to America's status as a world power, and potential threats to them are carefully assessed by US military planners. In January 2001, a commission led by Donald Rumsfeld warned of the growing threat to US space assets from so-called "rogue states," who (with varying degrees of difficulty) might build and deploy "space mines", launch ballistic anti-satellite weapons, deliberately increase orbital debris or detonate high-altitude nuclear explosions. The defensive options currently available to the US include improving satellite defenses (making them more robust and maneuverable, and improving threat detection) and the controversial placing of weapons in space (in "sentinel satellites") to protect military and civilian hardware. Since the 1950s research and development has been applied to space weaponry with mixed results, and not only by the USA. This book explains the origin and development of systems used to defend the United States from past, present and future threats, and to support military operations. -
Space Control and the Role of Antisatellite Weapons
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ISBN: 9781410221834Publication Date: 2005-01-01Maj Steven R. Petersen's study represents the first effort to tie together in one document US doctrine, policy, and implementation planning for the use of offensive weapons in space. Structured around the concept of space control, he creates a picture of offensive space operations that are quite similar to traditional air superiority operations. Major Petersen's study provides a timely guide to the evolution of space as another theater of warfare. It identities key doctrinal and operational challenges that lie ahead.
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Anti-Satellite Weapons, Deterrence and Sino-American Space Relations
The Stimson Center promotes international security and shared prosperity through applied research and independent analysis, global engagement, and policy innovation. This collection of essays published by the Stimson Center presents varied perspectives on the prospects for cooperation, competition and deterrence in space. Namely, Karl Muler of the RAND Corporation posits that other space represents the "absolute weapon" as the "ultimate high ground" and that anti-satellite weapons are vital to space deterrence.
Essays and Articles of Interest
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Joshua La Bella, Star Wars: Attack of the Anti-Satellite Weapons in Anticipatory Self-Defense, 52 U. PAC. L. REV. 733 (2021).In this Comment, Joshua La Bella argues various anti-satellite ("ASAT") weapons the United States either has placed or plans to place in outer space are valid exercises of anticipatory self-defense inherent in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The Comment discusses the interplay of the UN Charter and the Outer Space Treaty as they pertain to the placement and use of various types of ASAT weapons, including kinetic kill vehicles, radio-frequency jammers, chemical sprayers, and robotic mechanisms in space. La Bella recommends the U.S. should deploy ASAT weapons as necessary strategic deterrence to spacefaring nations such as Russia and China, while recognizing that the emerging choice of technology underlying the weapons available may have broad implications for collateral effects should ASAT weapons ver be employed.
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Chow, Brian G. (2018). Space Arms Control: A Hybrid Approach. Strategic Studies Quarterly, 12(2), 107–132.Dr. Brian Chow argues space arms control proposals such as the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space (PPWT) have failed to become treaties in spite of countless efforts over the past 50 years and that these proposals will not work in the emerging space proximity-operations era. This article proposes a hybrid approach to space arms control based on restricting the locations in space of some potential space weapons while banning other types of space weapons outright. The core of any hybrid space arms control (HSAC) treaty should prohibit satellites, whether for antisatellite (ASAT) or peaceful purposes, from positioning too close to more than an innocuous threshold number of another country’s satellites and authorize preemptive self-defense as a last resort countermeasure. This article also proposes a comprehensive list of space arms control measures, which can be added to the core proposal to more effectively manage both traditional and emerging space weapons.
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Hurova, Anna (2022) Why the Recognizing of Space Object as a Legitimate Target for a Strike is Always Bad Idea Leading to the International Liability. Advanced Space Law, Volume 10, 69-72.In this piece, Anna Hurova contends that the creation of space debris during armed conflicts is covered by article 56 of the Additional Protocol of the Geneva Convention about the release of dangerous forces. As such, even realization of the rights of self-defence in response to aggressive actions are limited by the principles of proportionality. From this perspective, military actions should not be excluded from the Liability Convention. Thus, any damage to space objects in space due to fault or unlawful activity of any State or the fault of persons for whom it is responsible should lead to international liability.