The top priority could be a basic agreement addressing the danger of space debris from pulverized satellites, which is part of the reason Washington and Moscow ceased further testing of ASAT systems two decades ago. Now China's public entry into the antisatellite game has unleashed an estimated two million fragments of debris floating indefinitely in orbit, threatening other satellites, including its own, according to the Union of Concerned Scientistis. Laura Grego, a UCS expert on space-security issues, says: "The issues aren't simple, but it might be possible, as a first step, to agree on a ban on the testing of destructive antisatellite weapons [of the sort China has just tested]. After all, it's the debris from that sort of test … which is of immediate concern." If the United States is unwilling to move toward that first step, China can be expected to keep following in U.S. and Russian footsteps toward the stars—and, if it deems necessary, toward Star Wars.

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"Can U.S. and China Avoid Space Arms Race?." Newsweek. January 27, 2007.