There are multiple ways to develop space weapons given existing technology.
Can you improve on this argument text? Help develop this argument by editing and adding more information or click on one of the edit links below to add a counter, supporting, or related argument.
You can help improve this argument by adding a related argument.
Technologically, our adversaries have the capability to blind imagery satellites or jam satellite signals. According to Leonard David's article in Space.com, laser technology is rapidly becoming available to blind imagery satellites. Countries and individuals have also shown they are willing and able to deliberately disrupt communication satellites. In 1997, India jammed Tongasat because of a disagreement over possession of a geosynchronous orbit slot. In 1998, MED-TV accused Turkey of jamming its Kurdish broadcast channel that is beamed to 70 countries. In early 2003, the FBI charged six people for selling software and decryption devices that allowed consumers to 'steal' satellite television signals (e.g., DirectTV) which they had not paid for. As late as the summer of 2003, the Iranian Embassy in Cuba reportedly jammed Voice of America satellite broadcasts being sent to Iran. ( More ... ) Adkins, Larry D. "Space Superiority: Does the US Really Have It?." High Frontier Journal. Vol. 1, No. 3 (Winter 2005): 13-16. [ 2 quotes ] [ page 13 ]
We have learned much, it would seem, or else bluntly negative scientific opinion on space weapons has been weeded out over time. Less encompassing arguments are now the rule. As the debate moved completely away from the complete impossibility of weapons and wars in space to more subtle and scientifically sustainable arguments that a particular space weapon is not feasible, mountains of mathematical formulae have been piled high in an effort, one by one, simply to bury the concept. But these limitations on specific systems are less due to theoretical analysis than to assumptions about future funding and available technology. The real objection, too often hidden from view, is that a particular weapons system or capability cannot be developed and deployed within the planned budget, or within narrowly specified means. When one relaxes those assumptions, opposition on technical grounds generally falls away. Dolman, Everett C. "U.S. Military Transformation and Weapons in Space." SAIS Review. XXVI, No. 1 (Winter-Spring 2006): 163-174. [ 10 quotes ] [ page 168 ]
In assessing the potential threat, we must examine which elements nations or groups will need to effect attacks on their enemies' space assets. They will need a means of deliver - they will, at a minimum need a booster with a range and altitude at least similar to that of the Thor; and they will need a device capable of producing sufficiently strong EMP effect to disable or destroy the intended target. Unless such a nation merely wants to make a random attack on any orbiting satellite, it will need an accurate and timely detection, tracking, and targeting system. This capability requires the ability to support launch activities that include preparing the vehicle and launch pad; keeping a vehicle on alert or in a ready condition; effecting the launch; and possibly refurbishing the launch pad. How real is such a threat? The answer depends on access to space boosters and potential ASAT warheads. Chun, Clayton K. S. Shooting Down a Star: Program 437, the U.S. Nuclear ASAT System and Present Day Copycat Killers. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, April 2000. [ 11 quotes ] [ page 36 ]
The second major aspect in which the space environment has evolved since the creation of the legal regime is the reality of space weapons technology. The debate over space weaponization is far from the theoretical discussion debated by the founders of the current legal regime. One particular display of how far the debate has progressed is the billions of dollars the United States continues to invest into the research and development of advanced space weapons like the Space Based Laser (SBL). In fact, recent leaps in space technologies have put the development of space weapons within the realm of possibility for several different countries. As New World Vistas: Air And Space Power For The 2lst Century, a U.S. Air Force board report, states, “In the next two decades, new technologies will allow the fielding of space-based weapons of devastating effectiveness to be used to deliver energy and mass as force projection in tactical and strategic conflict. These advances will enable lasers with reasonable mass and cost to affect very many kills.” Park, Andrew T. "Incremental Steps for Achieving Space Security: The Need for a New Way of Thinking to Enhance the Legal Regime for Space." Houston Journal of International Law. Vol. 28, No. 3 (2006): 871-911. [ 11 quotes ] [ page 881 ]