What should U.S. military do in space?

By Leonard David

Senior space writer

updated 3:57 p.m. ET June 17, 2005

For more than a decade, the military utilization of space has become all the more important in warfighting. Since the Gulf War of 1991, using space assets has enabled air, land, and sea forces and operations to be far more effective.

Space power has changed the face of warfare. So much so, particularly for the United States, skirmishes of the 21st century cannot be fought and won without space capabilities. That reliance has led to a key action item for U.S. space warriors: how best to maintain and grow the nation’s space superiority and deny adversaries the ability to use space assets.

That fact has prompted arguments as to the "weaponization" of space — from satellites killing satellites, exploding space mines, even using technology to make an enemy’s spacecraft go deaf, dumb, or blind.

Leftover legacy
The White House is now delving into U.S. military space policy and what it sees as the need to reshape current national space policy, a leftover legacy document from the Clinton Administration.

Clinton’s unclassified National Space Policy was issued in September 1996. Among its proclamations: "Consistent with treaty obligations, the United States will develop, operate and maintain space control capabilities to ensure freedom of action in space and, if directed, deny such freedom of action to adversaries. These capabilities may also be enhanced by diplomatic, legal or military measures to preclude an adversary's hostile use of space systems and services."

In a June 10 press briefing, White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, explained that the national space policy has been "undergoing an interagency review" because it hasn’t been updated in several years.

McClellan said that "we’ve seen a lot of dramatic changes, internationally and domestically, that affect our space policy. And that’s why it needs to be updated."

"But we believe in the peaceful exploration of space," McClellan continued. "And there are treaties in place, and we continue to abide by those treaties. But there are issues that relate to our space program that could affect those space programs that we need to make sure are addressed."

As for the interagency review process of national space policy itself, McClellan added: "It’s not looking at weaponizing space, as some reports had previously suggested. But the peaceful exploration of space also includes the ability of nations to be able to protect their space systems."

What the White House will spin up and out as new military space policy, nobody knows for sure. But already there’s heated debate.

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