All four nations discussed above -- North Korea, India, Iran, and the PRC -- have the potential space boosters and have demonstrated the ability and willingness to develop nuclear devices. They realistically could, in the next few years, field a low-cost ASAT weapon system powerful enough to severely damage or destroy a target satellite. Such an ASAT device could be a conventional weapon. However, the proliferation of nuclear weapons increases the likelihood that many nations, especially the DPRK, India, the PRC, and Iran, will be capable of producing and supplying makes the latter technology the more likely choice for states seeking to deploy ASAT systems. The nuclear weapons development by the four countries named above has been greatly aided by legal and illegal technology transfer.

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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 60-1 ]