Space Security
SIPRI's headquarters in Solna Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict , armaments , arms control and disarmament . Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open source , to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. The Foreign Policy Think Tank Index ranked SIPRI as the #3 non-U.S. think tank in the world in 2009. [ 1 ] In the 2011 "Global Go To Think Tanks" ranking results for non-U.S. think tanks , SIPRI was ranked #2 ,and #18 worldwide. [ 2 ]
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
The United States and China engaged in a show of military strength in space by testing anti-satellite weapons on their own satellites on separate occasions, according to diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks and published by the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph newspaper today (Feb. 3). The memos include more than 500 leaked cables and detail the private fears of two superpowers as they clamber to dominate the new military frontier in space, the Daily Telegraph reported. The documents disclose that following China's intentional destruction of its own weather satellite in January 2007, the U.S. responded in February 2008 by blowing up one of its own defunct satellites in a "test" strike.
Wikileaks Cables Suggest U.S.-China Space Weapons Race | Missile Strikes & Anti-Satellite Tests
Top 10 Space Weapons
Weapons for Space War Weapons in space may seem like science fiction, but they've been creeping ever closer toward science fact. The U.S. may have proposed a space weapon ban, but others are actively researching military strength in the high frontier. <br><br>Here's a look at 10 nasty ways warfare may reach space. Missile The ability to destroy man-made satellites in orbit around Earth has already been demonstrated by China, who used an anti-satellite (ASAT) device against one of their own weather satellites.
The buildup of space debris orbiting the Earth, which poses a threat to spacecraft and the environment, has reached a critical point, scientists say. The space junk trend no longer can be reversed by full compliance with mitigation measures now in place; it will get worse without more-aggressive action such as active debris removal, or ADR. And that just might pose the biggest engineering challenge of the 21st century, according to J.-C. Liou of the Orbital Debris Program Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "As the international community gradually reaches a consensus on the need for ADR, the focus will shift from environment modeling to completely different challenges: technology development, systems engineering, and operations," Liou explained in the July edition of NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News, issued by his office in Houston.
Junk Cleanup Poses Grand Challenge for 21st Century | Orbital Debris Threat & Space Technology | Space Debris
A newly unveiled U.S. strategy aims to enlist other countries to help safeguard national space assets against both hostile threats and orbital space debris. The National Security Space Strategy directs the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on how to follow the country's National Space Policy, which was announced by the president last June. It is the first such document co-signed by the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence, said Gregory Schulte, the deputy secretary of defense for space policy. "Space becomes critical to everything we do, and that’s why we're worried that the environment is increasingly challenging," Schulte said.
U.S. Seeks Allies for Space Security | Space Debris & Space Weapons | Space War
What began as a minor trash problem in space has now developed into a full-blown threat. A recent space security report put the problem of debris on equal footing with weapons as a threat to the future use of space. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk — including broken satellites, discarded rocket stages and lost spacewalker tools — now crowd the corridors of Earth orbit. These objects could do serious damage to working spacecraft if they were to hit them, and might even pose a risk to people and property on the ground if they fall back to Earth and are large enough to survive re-entering the atmosphere. The new Space Security 2010 report released by the Space Security Index, an international research consortium, represented space debris as a primary issue.
Junk Rivals Weapons as a Major Threat
