Evidence: Recently Added
These weapons could be used to blind the missile warning and radar satellites that allow the United States to target Chinese ballistic missiles on the ground or in flight, as well as the communications satellites that would direct systems such as the Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) to their targets. missile defenses, or place a large number of CAVs in orbit (aboard a space maneuver vehicle like NASA's X-37), China might target those weapons with anti-satellite weapons as well. If the United States were to deploy space-based This situation would essentially put the United States on "hair trigger" alert in space. A Chinese military exercise, for example, involving the movement of large numbers of troops and mobilization of ballistic missile units might be mistaken in the United States as a prelude to a surprise attack. With a military strategy that absolutely depends on vulnerable space assets to protect the homeland, an American president would face the unenviable task of choosing between launching a surprise attack on China or risking the loss of space-based intelligence, strike and missile defense assets that protect against nuclear attack.
If the United States develops and deploys space-based weapons for controlling space, self-interest dictates that other countries will follow suit. As with other technology, the great - est costs are normally incurred in the initial research and development (R&D) required to evolve a concept into a weapon. Once a new weapon has been deployed it is much easier, and less expensive, to observe the operational system, determine how it must operate, and then duplicate it. By doing this initial R&D, the United States will be paving the way for other nations to follow. The result may well be that assets which are now safe -- because no other nation has a pressing need to develop weapons to attack them -- will become vulnerable to attack because other nations will feel com - pelled to emulate the United States and deploy space-based weapons of their own.