As the above analysis shows, many nations have access to technology and systems that are much improved over what the United States used in the late 1950s and early 1960s. If these nations configured their ASAT weapons properly, they could pose a threat to US satellites. Nations that possessed such ASAT systems may not be able to strike US satellites in all of the possible orbital arrays, but they could at least use their ASAT system as a show of strength or to deny the United States local or regional space superiority. This ability to blind US or allied forces by knocking satellites out of commission may allow an unfriendly state to achieve a political or military objective without international monitoring, opposition, or interference, that is, to seize an opportunity and present the West with a fait accompli.

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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 63 ]