Indeed, it is just this concern for the unanticipated arrival of technology X that initially motivates my own preference for the immediate deployment of space weapons. So long as America is the state most likely to acquire a breakthrough technology in this area, my concern is limited to the problem of letting technology take us where it will. But what if an enemy of democratic liberalism suddenly should acquire the means to place multiple weapons into orbit quickly and cheaply? The advantages gained from controlling the high ground of space would accrue to it as surely as to any liberal state, and the concomitant loss of military power from the denial of space to our already-dependent military forces could cause the immediate demise of the extant international system. The longer the United States dithers on its responsibilities, the more likely a potential opponent could seize low-Earth orbit before America is able to respond.

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Dolman, Everett C. "U.S. Military Transformation and Weapons in Space." SAIS Review. XXVI, No. 1 (Winter-Spring 2006): 163-174. [ 10 quotes ] [ page 169 ]