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Themilitarisation of space involved the placement and development of weaponry and military technology inouter space.[1][2][3][4] The early exploration of space in the mid-20th century had, in part, a military motivation, as theUnited States and theSoviet Union used it as an opportunity to demonstrateballistic-missile technology and other technologies having the potential for military application.[5] Outer space has since been used as an operating location formilitary spacecraft such asimaging andcommunications satellites, and some ballistic missiles pass through outer space during their flight. As of 2018[update], known deployments of weapons stationed in space include only theAlmaz space-station armament and pistols such as theTP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol (for post-landing, pre-recovery use).
During the Cold War, the world's two great superpowers—theSoviet Union and theUnited States of America—spent large proportions of theirGDP on developing military technologies. The drive to place objects in orbit stimulated space research and started theSpace Race. In 1957, the USSR launched the firstartificial satellite,Sputnik 1.
By the end of the 1960s, both countries regularly deployed satellites.Reconnaissance satellites were used by militaries to take accurate pictures of their rivals' military installations. As time passed, the resolution and accuracy of orbital reconnaissance alarmed both sides of theIron Curtain. Both the United States and the Soviet Union began to developanti-satellite weapons to blind or destroy each other's satellites.Directed-energy weapons,kamikaze-style satellites, as well as orbital nuclear explosives were researched with varying levels of success. Spy satellites were, and continue to be, used to monitor the dismantling of military assets by arms control treaties signed between the two superpowers. To use spy satellites in such a manner is often referred to in treaties as "national technical means of verification".
The superpowers developedballistic missiles to enable them to usenuclear weaponry across great distances. As rocket science developed, the range of missiles increased andintercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were created, which could strike virtually any target on Earth in a timeframe measured in minutes rather than hours or days. To cover large distances ballistic missiles are usually launched intosub-orbital spaceflight.
As soon as intercontinental missiles were developed, military planners began programmes and strategies to counter their effectiveness.
Early American efforts included theNike-Zeus Program,Project Defender, theSentinel Program and theSafeguard Program. The late 1950s Nike-Zeus programme involved firing Nike nuclear missiles against oncoming ICBMs, thus exploding nuclear warheads over the North Pole. This idea was soon scrapped and work began on Project Defender in 1958.[6] Project Defender attempted to destroy Soviet ICBMs at launch with satellite weapon systems, which orbited over Russia. This programme proved infeasible with the technology from that era.[6] Work then began on the Sentinel Program which usedanti-ballistic missiles (ABM) to shoot down incoming ICBMs.
In the late 1950sUnited States Air Force considered detonating anatomic bomb on theMoon to display U.S. superiority to theSoviet Union and the rest of the world (Project A119). In 1959, a feasibility study of a possible military base on the Moon (Project Horizon) was conducted. In 1958, a plan for a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 was developed (Lunex Project).
TheSafeguard Program was deployed in the mid-1970s and was based on the Sentinel Program. Since the ABM treaty only allowed for the construction of a single ABM facility to protect either the nation's capital city or an ICBM field, theStanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was constructed nearNekoma, North Dakota to protect theGrand Forks ICBM facility. Though it was only operational as an ABM facility for less than a year, the Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR), one of Safeguard's components, was still operational as of 2005. One major problem with the Safeguard Program, and past ABM systems, was that the interceptor missiles, though state-of-the-art, required nuclear warheads to destroy incoming ICBMs. Future ABMs will likely be more accurate and usehit-to-kill or conventional warheads to knock down incoming warheads. The technology involved in such systems was shaky at best, and deployment was limited by theABM treaty of 1972.
In 1983, American presidentRonald Reagan proposed theStrategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based system to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear missiles. The plan was ridiculed by some as unrealistic and expensive, and Dr. Carol Rosin nicknamed the policy "Star Wars", afterthe popular science-fiction movie franchise.[citation needed] AstronomerCarl Sagan pointed out that in order to defeat SDI, the Soviet Union had only to build more missiles, allowing them to overcome the defence by sheer force of numbers.[citation needed] Proponents of SDI said thestrategy of technology would hasten the Soviet Union's downfall. According to this doctrine, Communist leaders were forced to either shift large portions of their GDP to counter SDI, or else watch as their expensive nuclear stockpiles were rendered obsolete.
United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), aunified command of theUnited States military, was created in 1985 to help institutionalise the use ofouter space by the United States Armed Forces. The Commander in Chief of U.S. Space Command (CINCUSSPACECOM), with headquarters atPeterson Air Force Base,Colorado was also the Commander in Chief of the bi-national U.S.-CanadianNorth American Aerospace Defense Command (CINCNORAD), and for the majority of time during USSPACECOM's existence also the Commander of the U.S. Air Force major commandAir Force Space Command. Military space operations coordinated by USSPACECOM proved to be very valuable for the U.S.-led coalition in the 1991Persian Gulf War.[citation needed]
The U.S. military has relied on communications, intelligence, navigation, missile warning and weather satellite systems in areas of conflict since the early 1990s, including the Balkans, Southwest Asia and Afghanistan. Space systems are considered indispensable providers of tactical information to U.S. war-fighters.
As part of the ongoing initiative to transform the U.S. military, on 26 June 2002, Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld announced that U.S. Space Command would merge withUSSTRATCOM. The UCP directed thatUnified Combatant Commands be capped at ten, and with the formation of the newUnited States Northern Command, one would have to be deactivated in order to maintain that level. Thus the USSPACECOM merger into USSTRATCOM.
On December 10, 2019, theUnited States Space Force was formed as the world's only independent space force, with 8600 military personnel[7] and 77 spacecraft.[8]
Operation Hardtack I
Operation Hardtack I was a series of nuclear tests carried out by the United States Government in 1958. A major facet of these tests was three high-altitude nuclear tests: YUCCA, ORANGE, and TEAK. YUCCA was detonated April 28 at an altitude of 86,000 feet and had a comparatively small yield of 1.7 kilotons. YUCCA is notable as the first nuclear test carried via balloon. Following tests ORANGE and TEAK were carried out July 31 and August 11 at altitudes of 252,000 feet and 141,000 feet, respectively. The bombs were delivered via rocket and their yields were in the megaton range.[9]
Starfish Prime was a nuclear test carried out in 1962 over Johnston Atoll by the United States as part of Operation Fishbowl. The 1.4 megaton bomb was detonated at an altitude of 400 km (250 miles), in the ionosphere and was the highest altitude nuclear test ever demonstrated. The test is notable for its Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) effect, which was felt as far as 1400 km (800 miles) away in Hawaii.[10]
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The Soviet Union was also researching innovative ways of gaining space supremacy. Two of their most notable efforts were theR-36ORBFractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) andPolyus orbital weapons system.
The R-36ORB was aSovietICBM in the 1960s that, once launched, would go into alow Earth orbit whereupon it would de-orbit for an attack. This system would approach North America over theSouth Pole, thereby striking targets from the opposite direction from that to whichNORAD early warning systems are oriented. The missile was phased out in January 1983 in compliance with theSALT II treaty.
TheSALT II treaty (1979) prohibited the deployment of FOBS systems:
On May 15, 1987, anEnergia rocket flew for the first time. The payload was a prototype orbital weapons platformPolyus (also known as Polus, Skif-DM or 17F19DM), the final version of which according to some reports could be armed with nuclear space mines and defensive cannon. The Polyus weapons platform was designed to defend itself against anti-satellite weapons with recoilless cannon. It was also equipped with a sensor blinding laser to confuse approaching weapons and could launch test targets to validate the fire control system. The attempt to place the satellite into orbit failed.
TheRussian Space Forces was the first independent space force, formed in 1992, independent from 1992 to 1997 and 2001 to 2011, however it currently now part of theRussian Aerospace Forces.
The Soviet Union executed their own high-altitude tests for the purpose of studying and developing High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) weapons. The most notable of these is the 1962 Nuclear Test 184 in which a nuclear bomb was detonated at an altitude of 290 km.[11] The ensuing HEMP damaged a 1000 km long line in Kazakhstan which was designed to be protected from such damage. The electrical damage is comparable to the strongest naturally occurring geomagnetic disturbances recorded.[12]
As the Cold War ended with the implosion of the Soviet Union the space race between the two superpowers ended. The United States of America was left as the only superpower on Earth with a large concentration of the world's wealth and technological advancement. Despite the United States' new status in the world, the monopoly of space militarisation is in no way certain. Countries such asChina,Japan, andIndia have begun their own space programmes, while theEuropean Union collectively works to create satellite systems to rival those of the United States.
The USSR Space Forces were established as the Ministry of Defense Space Units in 1982. In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated. TheRussian Armed Forces were established on 7 May 1992, enabling the creation ofRussian Space Forces later that year on 10 August. In July 1997, the Space Force was dissolved as a separate service arm and incorporated to theStrategic Rocket Forces along with the Space Missile Defense Forces, which previously were part of theTroops of Air Defense. The Russian Space Forces were officially reborn on June 1, 2001, as an independent section of the Russian military.
Post Cold War space militarisation seems to revolve around three types of applications. (The word "seems" is used because much of this subject matter is inconclusively verifiable, due to the high level of secrecy that exists among thegreat powers with regard to the details of space sensing systems.) The first application is the continuing development of "spy" or reconnaissance satellites which began in the Cold War era, but has progressed significantly since that time. Spy satellites perform a variety of missions such as high-resolution photography (IMINT) and communications eavesdropping (SIGINT). These tasks are performed on a regular basis both during peacetime and war operations. Satellites are also used by the nuclear states to provide early warning of missile launches, locate nuclear detonations, and detect preparations for otherwise clandestine or surprise nuclear tests (at least those tests or preparations carried out above-ground); this was the case when, in 1998,India andPakistan both conducted a series of nuclear tests; in addition, a nuclear-detection satellite of theVela type was also reported to have detected a nuclear detonation in theIndian Ocean in 1978 that was believed to be aSouth African nuclear test in what was famously called theVela incident. Early-warning satellites can also be used to detect tactical missile launches; this capability was used duringDesert Storm, when America was able to provide advance warning toIsrael of IraqiSS-1 SCUD missile launches.
Types ofReconnaissance satellites
United States
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
People's Republic of China
India
Iran
Israel
Spain
Turkey
The second application of space militarisation currently in use is GPS orGlobal Positioning System. Thissatellite navigation system is used for determining one's precise location and providing a highly accuratetime reference almost anywhere onEarth or inEarth orbit. It uses anintermediate circular orbit (ICO)satellite constellation of at least 24 satellites. The GPS system was designed by and is controlled by theUnited States Department of Defense and can be used by anyone, free of charge. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of ageing satellites. The first of 24 satellites that form the current GPS constellation (Block II) was placed into orbit on February 14, 1989. The 52nd GPS satellite since the beginning in 1978 was launched November 6, 2004 aboard aDelta II rocket.The primary military purposes are to allow improved command and control of forces through improved location awareness, and to facilitate accurate targeting ofsmart bombs,cruise missiles, or other munitions, and spoofing or jamming location data to civilian navigation receivers during wartime. The satellites also carry nuclear detonation detectors, which form a major portion of theUnited States Nuclear Detonation Detection System.European concern about the level of control over the GPS network and commercial issues has resulted in the plannedGalileo positioning system. Russia already operates an independent system calledGLONASS (global navigation system); the system operates with 24 satellites that are deployed in 3 orbital planes as opposed to the 4 in which GPS is deployed.[13]The Chinese "Beidou" system provides China a similar regional (not global) navigation capability.
The third current application of militarisation of space can be demonstrated by the emerging military doctrine ofnetwork-centric warfare. Network-centric warfare relies heavily on the use of high-speed communications, which allows all soldiers and branches of the military to view the battlefield in real-time. Real-time technology improves thesituational awareness of all of the military's assets and commanders in a given theatre. For example, asoldier in the battle zone can access satellite imagery of enemy positions two blocks away, and if necessarye-mail the coordinates to a bomber orweapon platform hovering overhead while the commander, hundreds of miles away, watches as the events unfold on a monitor. This high-speed communication is facilitated by a separateinternet created by the military for the military.[citation needed] Communication satellites hold this system together by creating an informational grid over the given theatre of operations. TheDepartment of Defense is currently working to establish aGlobal Information Grid to connect all military units and branches into a computerised network in order to share information and create a more efficient military.[citation needed]
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It was revealed[when?][how?][who?] that Soviet officials were concerned that the USSpace Shuttle program had such military objectives such as to make a sudden dive into the atmosphere to drop bombs on Moscow.[14] Although it is a popular myth that these concerns were part of the motivation behind pursuing their ownBuran programme,[15] the actual study concerning the potential for US Space Shuttles to launch nuclear munitions into Soviet territory was released after the Buran program had already been approved.[16]
The NASA uncrewedspaceplane projectX-37 was transferred to the US Department of Defense in 2004. It is unclear what its military mission is, although speculation ranges from the testing of experimentalreconnaissance and spy sensors and how they hold up againstradiation and other hazards of orbit.The Pentagon has denied claims that the X-37 has been, or will be, used in the development or testing of space-based weapons.[17] The USAF has confirmed that Hall thruster electric propulsion tests have been carried out using the X-37, utilizing Aerojet Rocketdyne's AEHF satellites' Hall thrusters.[18] These thrusters are 4.5 kilowatt units that utilize electricity and xenon to produce thrust by ionizing and accelerating xenon gas particles. The X-37 is akin to a space version ofUnmanned aerial vehicle.
Space weapons areweapons used inspace warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit (i.e.anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space.[4] In the course of the militarisation of space, such weapons were developed mainly by the contestingsuperpowers during theCold War, and some remain under development today. Space weapons are also a central theme inmilitary science fiction and sci-fivideo games.
The Soviet space stationSalyut 3 was fitted with a 23mm cannon, which was successfully test fired at target satellites, at ranges from 500 to 3,000 metres (1,600 to 9,800 ft).[19][20][21]
As of 2008, it was reported that Russian cosmonauts have regularly carried theTP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol on Soyuz spacecraft, as part of the emergency landing survival kit. The intent of the weapon is to protect cosmonauts from wild animals in the event of an off-course wilderness landing. The specially designed gun is capable of firing bullets, shotgun shells, or flares.[22]
A high-altitude electromagnetic pulse is a result of an atmospheric nuclear explosion, as demonstrated by the United States' Starfish Prime and the Soviet Union's Nuclear Test 184. Though such explosions lack the usual damage caused by nuclear explosions such as physical damage and radioactive fallout, ensuing HEMPs have far-reaching effects on unprotected electronics.
The 1962 Starfish Prime test produced an HEMP which caused electronics to fail 1400 km (800) away in Hawaii where about 300 streetlights immediately failed. Soviet tests with HEMPs were executed above land, where a 1000 km power line was shut down, and all telephone lines within 500 km were damaged.[10]
HEMPs cause banana-shaped areas of effect, due to the pulse's interaction with the Earth's magnetic field.[23] A nuclear weapon detonated at 400 km creates an EMP 2,200 km in radius, large enough to cover the continental United States. However, any nuclear device detonated above 30 km will create an EMP of at least 600 km in radius.[24]
Space warfare is combat that takes place inouter space, i.e. outside theatmosphere. Technically, it refers tobattles where the targets themselves are in space. Space warfare therefore includesground-to-space warfare, such as attackingsatellites from the Earth, as well asspace-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites.[citation needed]
A film was produced by theU.S. Military in the early 1960s calledSpace and National Security which depicted space warfare.[25] From 1985 to 2002 there was aUnited States Space Command, which in 2002 merged with theUnited States Strategic Command. There is aRussian Space Force, which was established on August 10, 1992 and was the first independent space force in the world.[26]
Only a few incidents of space warfare have occurred in world history, and all were training missions, as opposed to actions against real opposing forces. In the mid-1980s aUSAF pilot in anF-15 successfully shot down theP78-1, a communications satellite in a 345-mile (555 km) orbit.
In 2007, thePeople's Republic of China used a missile system to destroy one of its obsolete satellites (see2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test), in 2008 theUnited States similarly destroyed its malfunctioning satelliteUSA 193. In 2019,India destroyed a live satellite.[27][28] and on 15 November 2021,Kosmos 1408, an old Soviet satellite was destroyed by the Russian military using a ground based missile. To date, there have been no human casualties resulting from conflict in space, nor has any ground target been successfully neutralised from orbit.
International treaties governing space limit or regulate conflicts in space and limit the installation of weapon systems, especiallynuclear weapons.[citation needed]
Treaties are agreed to when all parties perceive a benefit from becoming a signatory participant in the treaty. Asmutually assured destruction (MAD) became the deterrent strategy between the two superpowers in the Cold War, many countries worked together to avoid extending the threat of nuclear weapons to space based launchers.
The Outer Space Treaty was considered by the Legal Subcommittee of theUnited Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1966. Later that year, agreement was reached in theUnited Nations General Assembly. The treaty included the following principles:
In summary, the treaty initiated the banning of signatories' placing ofnuclear weapons or any otherweapons of mass destruction in orbit ofEarth, installing them on theMoon or any othercelestial body, or to otherwise station them inouter space. The United States, theUnited Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the treaty and it entered into effect on October 10, 1967. As of January 1, 2005, 98 States have ratified, and an additional 27 have signed the Outer Space Treaty.
Note that this treaty does not ban the placement of weapons in space in general, only nuclear weapons and WMD.
The Moon Treaty (not ratified by any space capable state, though signed by some) bans any military use of celestial bodies, including weapon testing, nuclear weapons in orbit, or military bases. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. (Article 3.4)
In 1963 the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. The treaty was a response to growing concerns over the rapidly increasing power of nuclear weapons as well as damage from radioactive fallout. The treaty banned underwater tests and atmospheric tests, and effectively banned underground nuclear tests. The treaty put an end to further testing of high-altitude nuclear tests, and by extension HEMPs.[29]
ThePrevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) is a committee subsidiary to theConference on Disarmament. The PAROS Cttee, which meets at thePalais des Nations inGeneva, has been the forum for discussion of these issues since 1985.[30]
In February 2008, China and Russia together submitted a draft to the UN known as theTreaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT).[31][32] The US opposed the draft treaty due to security concerns over its space assets despite the treaty explicitly affirming a State's inherent right of self-defence.[33]
On December 4, 2014, the General Assembly of the UN passed two resolutions on preventing an arms race in outer space:[34]
With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War defense spending was reduced and space research was chiefly focused on peaceful research. American military research is focused on a more modest goal of preventing the United States from being subject tonuclear blackmail or nuclear terrorism by arogue state. This overlapped with militarization of space in the form of ballistic missile defense. Missile defense does notstation weapons in space, but is designed to intercept incoming warheads at a very high altitude, which requires the interceptor to travel into space to achieve the intercept. These missiles can be land-based or sea-based, and most proposed programs use a mix of the two.
On 16 December 2002, US PresidentGeorge W. Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive which outlined a plan to begin deployment of operational ballistic missile defense systems by 2004. The following day, the US formally requested from the UK andDenmark use of facilities inRAF Fylingdales,England andThule,Greenland, respectively, as a part of the NMD Program.[35] The administration continued to push the program, but received pushback from multiple fronts. Firstly, some scientists opposed the program and raised ethical objections. Secondly, some trial-and-error technical failures during development became highly publicized, though from a technical standpoint they were unsurprising and even expected. The projected cost of the program for the years 2004 to 2009 was 53 billion US dollars, making it the largest single line inThe Pentagon's budget.
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