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Graham, Thomas. "Space Weapons and the Risk of Accidental Nuclear War." Arms Control Today. Vol. 35, No. 10 (December 2005). [ 5 quotes ]

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Space weapons are destabilizing because they threaten the flow of stabilizing satellite imagery intelligence
 
Moreover, a space arms competition could hinder the flow of satellite imagery that can be used to track activities that might reveal programs to develop weapons of mass destruction in countries of concern. For example, activities detected through space-based collection systems can be used to trigger requests for inspections pursuant to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) (implicitly) or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (explicitly), should that treaty be brought into force. ( More ... )
Graham, Thomas. "Space Weapons and the Risk of Accidental Nuclear War." Arms Control Today. Vol. 35, No. 10 (December 2005). [ 5 quotes ]
Space weapons placed in geosynchronous orbit are particularly destabilizing because they threaten early warning satellites
 
These dangers would be particularly worrisome for those components that are placed in geosynchronous orbits (GEO). Space objects in GEO are sufficiently far from the Earth (about 36,000 kilometers) so that their speed roughly matches the rotational speed of the Earth and they remain "stationary" above one location. To be sure, any country that can place a satellite in these farther orbits -- and there are several -- could potentially threaten another country's satellites there. Yet, it would be easier to do so, and perhaps more importantly, the threat perception would be greater with weapons based in space than with existing ground-based technology. The 15 U.S. early warning satellites are almost entirely in GEO. The three functioning Russian early warning satellites utilize two different orbits. Two of the satellites use a highly elliptical orbit, which ranges from low-Earth orbit (LEO) -- 100 to 2,000 kilometers above the Earth where space objects travel at about 8 kilometers per second -- out to GEO. The other satellite is permanently stationed in GEO. ( More ... )
Graham, Thomas. "Space Weapons and the Risk of Accidental Nuclear War." Arms Control Today. Vol. 35, No. 10 (December 2005). [ 5 quotes ]
Deployment of space weapons risks accidental nuclear war by threatening Russian early warning systems
 
Both the United States and Russia rely on space-based systems to provide early warning of a nuclear attack. If deployed, however, U.S. space-based missile defense interceptors could eliminate the Russian early warning satellites quickly and without warning. So, just the existence of U.S. space weapons could make Russia's strategic trigger fingers itchy. The potential protection space-based defenses might offer the United States is swamped therefore by their potential cost: a failure of or false signal from a component of the Russian early warning system could lead to a disastrous reaction and accidental nuclear war. ( More ... )
Graham, Thomas. "Space Weapons and the Risk of Accidental Nuclear War." Arms Control Today. Vol. 35, No. 10 (December 2005). [ 5 quotes ]
Testing of space-based missile defense would increase the risk of accidental nuclear war by undermining Russian confidence in there ballistic missile early warning systems
 
Obviously, nothing should be done in any way further to diminish the reliability of the space-based components of U.S. and Russian ballistic missile early warning systems. A decline in confidence in such early warning systems caused by the deployment of weapons in space would enhance the risk of an accidental nuclear weapons attack. Yet, as part of its plans for missile defense, the Pentagon is calling for the development of a test bed for space-based interceptors as well as examining a number of other exotic space weapons. ( More ... )
Graham, Thomas. "Space Weapons and the Risk of Accidental Nuclear War." Arms Control Today. Vol. 35, No. 10 (December 2005). [ 5 quotes ]
Testing of space based missile defense will be viewed as a strategic threat by Russia and China
 
Although the current ground-based configuration envisions a few dozen interceptors, continuous space coverage over a few countries of concern would likely require a very large number of interceptors because a particular interceptor will be above a particular target for only a few minutes a day. Today's missile defenses provide very little real protection as the United States currently faces no realistic threat of deliberate attack by nuclear-armed long-range missiles. But space weapons could actually be detrimental to U.S. national security. They would increase the perceived vulnerability of early warning systems to attack and cause Russia and perhaps other countries such as China to pursue potentially destabilizing countermeasures, such as advanced anti-satellite weapons. ( More ... )
Graham, Thomas. "Space Weapons and the Risk of Accidental Nuclear War." Arms Control Today. Vol. 35, No. 10 (December 2005). [ 5 quotes ]