Technological diffusion means that if the United States deploys space weapons, a number of other countries have the ability to emulate or offset them, so the advantage to the United States would be short-lived. Now and for the foreseeable future, no country or combination of countries could match the United States in terms of total military space spending or technological sophistication of military space systems. This means that the United States can afford to exercise restraint knowing that other countries have even less incentive or ability to suddenly surge ahead of the U.S. than the Soviets did during the Cold War. If, however, the United States continues to forge ahead toward highly threatening space weapons, plenty of countries have enough knowledge, resources, and capabilities to expand their military space operations in ways that would increase the net uncertainty, expense, and insecurity of U.S. space activities. In a global economy, secrecy and export controls cannot protect the American technological advantage in space; instead, they sabotage the U.S. satellite industry and motivate other countries to develop indigenous capabilities and cooperative arrangements that exclude the United States.

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Gallagher, Nancy. Towards a Reconsideration of the Rules for Space Security. College Park, MD: Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM), April 20, 2005. [ 2 quotes ] [ page 24 ]