The increasing militarization of space is not exclusively a superpower story, however. The United States certainly dominates military space spending—accounting for more than 90 percent of the total, by some measures. The country's military space budget totals exceed $15 billion a year. But other countries besides the United States and Russia have also increasingly sought military satellites, largely for reconnaissance and communications purposes so far, and will surely continue to pursue space capabilities of many types in the future. They may make use of civilian and commercial assets for military purposes as well. They are surely studying American capabilities to find, track, and quickly attack targets using space assets. Some are trying to emulate the United States; some are trying to find vulnerabilities in U.S. space systems so they can challenge them in any future wars. China may be the most notable example of a country that is doing both. Its progress to date is limited, as far as we can tell, and its progress in the coming years is likely to be modest as well—but these prognostications may prove wrong, and in any case will not be applicable forever.

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O'Hanlon, Michael E. "The State of Space: From Strategic Reconnaissance to Tactical Warfighting to Possible Weaponization." Testimony before the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the House Armed Services Committee. Ed. . Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, June 21, 2006. [ 4 quotes ] [ page 7 ]