Introduction
This has been the question since the first space venture started by Sputnik happened. There was always the common thought that space should be for peaceful purposes and there should be one mankind that makes complete use of the space rather than taking the boundaries of nation-states to it. Though this argument was supported by every one of the political heads of governments across the world, in reality, this was not happening. Heads of governments, as well as military bosses of every country, wanted to leverage this technology to their advantage.
Today, the US military is dependent on artificial satellites much more than any other reconnaissance equipment. There is almost a continuous stream of input that comes to the military from the satellites and, therefore, from NASA. With this information flow happening to every one of the countries and their militaries, there is the keenness from the enemies to make an attack on these satellites that are prying on them. When the satellites are attacked, defending the satellites, and therefore, a star wars program becomes a must for the country! And our journey into the militarizing of space has started with that. Ideally, is there a need to take this journey? And what is the military’s role in space, particularly that of the US? This essay presents the pros and cons as well as important issues that abound in the presentation of these military needs that have to be met.
Military in Space
With the launching of artificial satellites, the space-age military had made its beginning. The satellites were made to do reconnaissance of enemy territory during peacetime as well as during wartime. With military satellites becoming more and more powerful and capable of zooming in on even the smallest component of length just over 10m, it becomes difficult for the enemy to hide any major movement of goods and troops. This helped the country to know what is happening across the globe and in all parts of it. This made the countries like the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union all the more formidable. Monitoring the movement of the troops and that of defense material in enemy territory made the other air-borne early warning systems almost redundant and also more accurate.
Secondly, with the rise in the number of rocket and shuttle launches happening, it is becoming all the more important for the country to ensure that there are lots of military clouts that are strengthened. One of them is the long-range missiles that are part of the US military. With the increasing number of enemies across the globe, it is important that the country is in possession of weaponry that can be launched from the US and attacking any part of the world. This necessitates rockets that can travel across large territories and, therefore, bring about changes in the way the armaments are perceived. Every launch of a space rocket strengthens the technology of rocket launching and makes it easier to make use of during a war in defense or in the offense.
The anti-satellite missiles, which are built consequently to the spying activity that most of the military satellites are subjected to, are also becoming commonplace defense mechanisms. Similarly, anti-missile systems are also becoming a must, particularly with the large-scale increase in the long-range inter-continental ballistic missiles. China recently proved its mettle in blasting out satellites using a missile from the ground (Christopher Bodeen 2007). This showed that anti-satellite firepower is growing with the countries. With the growth of satellite-based systems, building possible anti-satellite weaponry into the satellites will grow in the future.
If these are the primary purposes of the current military strategy in space, there is more for the military in the future. The military hopes to play an active role in colonizing the external worlds that are around us. The space provides incredible opportunities for adventurous people, and the military should be able to play an active role in ensuring that these activities do not turn out to be disastrous for the adventurous. The growth of private space travel is on the anvil, making policing the space a reality in the short term.
With the increasing role of star wars in a battle scenario, the chances that countries might resort to both offensive as well as defensive tactics using space-based systems, is highly probable. It is this capability that is getting demonstrated when the countries launch their own lunar probes or their own satellites. The dependence of these countries on foreign technology for this purpose has been going down considerably. As a matter of fact, the current lunar probe to Moon by China is considered by many as a military venture rather than a peaceful nonmilitary expedition. In the US, the position of the military in space is oriented towards defensive systems particularly, the anti-missile capability. This has been stressed by a number of people in the course of a strong anti-missile capability for the United States. As the spokesman of the Pentagon, Kenneth Bacon, said, the tests conducted by the United States military are primarily to shoot down a warhead in space. These tests have been successful and would carry further the presence of the military in space.
In addition to this, the presence of the military would also ensure that the country is powerful enough to mark a deterrent in the minds of the enemy. This has been successfully tested during the last decade. The US has grown to be the single largest power.
Military domination using Space
Military domination, either for the defense or for offensive purposes, would eventually bring about domination of space. In addition, dominating the near-earth space would mean that the country is also dominating the earth. The technological advantage that a country will have by dominating the near-earth space is very well known. The satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles have set the trend in the world today of long-range firepower. Satellite guided missile systems have equally made an impact in warfare. The scientific and technological warfare that has been employed by the US and the Western Powers shows a large-scale increase in military domination by using space close to the earth.
Secondly, military knowledge and approach to space are looked at as a possible defensive option should there be an alien life form elsewhere. Though strong evidence to this effect has not been realized, there is always a slim possibility of an attack; it may be a viral attack or another human-like form. In either case, the military should be prepared for the worst scenario.
Thirdly, the lead in capitalizing on the resources that the solar system and the near-earth space offers needs to be identified and made use of. In order to do that effectively, without the large-scale intervention by dissuading interests, military presence is looked at as a must. That is possibly the reason why the administration feels that the military needs to be strengthened in space. The Strategic Defense Initiative or ‘star wars’ program covers every one of the aspects of the military defense system. As the Defense Science Board reports (May 2003), ‘the US national security is critically dependent upon space capabilities. This highlighting brings into focus again the strengths and weaknesses of the military defense that the country enjoys. It is, therefore, critical for the country to invest in ensuring that the space-based defense system and space technologies are continuously on the growth path.
Space supremacy will continue to be the major criterion for ensuring the supremacy of one nation over the other. It is, therefore, important for the country to identify the means to retain the superiority and continue to grow with it. The Strategic Defense Initiative or SDI of the US has proposed to have a series of airborne radar systems for early warning of missiles on attack and fitted with laser guns to ensure that there is a clear reprisal of any such attack by an enemy nation. Starting from the SAINT or the Satellite Interceptor Program in 1959, there had been some program or the other that was primarily aimed at getting to the satellites that snoop the military movement. The land-based anti-satellite systems have also been found to be effective against such systems.
Any country that is planning to play an important role in the military sphere of activity should ensure that there is continuing domination of space, militarily. This would ensure that the country is able to push up the defense systems and also plan a suitable offensive tactic to defeat enemy planes.
Military in the Space Colonization era
In the space colonization era that has already made its beginning with the launch of the Chinese lunar probe and the other Asian countries joining the bandwagon, it will be the military might that will be a major deterrent for those countries that might play foul. The military presence in space will, therefore, become almost an ongoing and required presence to ensure that there is law and order in the outer space colonies when they do happen. On the moon or in the space stations that the countries might build, the law and order situation is critical to avoid the ultimate breakdown of society. There is also the possibility of growth in the near future, taking the world to the next level of space adventures. Space colonization is a serious one and has been heralded when the US started building the space station. This would mean there should b a defensive system that would ensure that the space stations are protected from all kinds of aggressions. In addition to this, space colonization would also bring in its own requirements for the future. In the near future, therefore, it is essential that the country makes commendable investments that would bring results, and the overall cost reduction plans are brought within the needed limits.
Space for defense
In order to realize the best results for the US, space for military purposes has been divided into three major areas. The Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Middle Earth Orbit (MEO), and the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) are the ones that the military really concentrates on (Alfred Monks Jul 1986). The LEO extends up to 3,100 nautical miles above the earth’s surface. Most of the navigation, reconnaissance, and weather satellites are in LEO. The Middle Earth Orbit ranges from 3,100 nautical miles to about 22,000 nautical miles. This MEO of the earth is normally used for semi-synchronous orbits, primarily useful for navigation of both aircraft and ships. Whereas the GEO that starts at about 22,300 nautical miles is used mostly for communication satellites, navigation, and missile early warning systems. As the altitude goes up, the number of satellites used to cover the full earth goes down. From the GEO altitude to the moon, it is normally called the cislunar region, and beyond the moon, it is called the translunar region, extending up to the edge of the solar system. Most of the military activities as of date are in the first three layers of the near-earth space.
Most of the satellites operate in the LEO zone of near-earth space and provide the military with reconnaissance material, electronic intelligence, early warning, and communication satellites. These satellites form the formidable fortress in the defense system planned for the country. The presence of the military in space is certainly a deterrent to whosoever is planning for an assault on the nation. The US has more than twenty satellites exclusively for the purpose of military reconnaissance, electronic intelligence, early warning, and military communications. There are also another one hundred satellites that are used for general communication, weather, earth monitoring, and navigation. These satellites are also used for the same services by the military for their own movement and purposes. The first presence of the military in space is as satellites to earth, and this has been growing continuously.
The second level of usage by the military is in missile launching as well as in missile defense. In either of the cases, the missiles are launched in a counteroffensive move to attack enemy territory with warheads. In the other case, the missiles are used to blast any attacking missile or space-to-earth system from falling on the US or its territories and interests.
Airborne Radar and laser weaponry are in the conceptual stage. In this, the military will have an ongoing presence in the space to shoot down using laser weaponry any intruders spotted. Since the laser weaponry is looked at as a high-temperature defense system, this should be successful and with the absolute aim when launched. This is a part of the SDI that the US government is set to launch. Though the presence of the military personnel in the space station being built is more to do with scientific research, there are other experiments on the military needs that are also being carried out by the scientists and technicians on board.
According to Major Petersen (1991), the control of the space would decide who the winner in a conflict is, and the strengths of the programs will be highly critical. In the current situation, this control of space could result only with the help of artificial satellites. The next round of war on supremacy will be decided based on the firepower of its missiles and the damages it has carried out using these missiles in the offensive operation.
Conclusion
The military presence in space is certainly a need for all the countries, and particularly it is so for the United States. This has to take the shape of the defense systems so that it does not start off a critical arms race in any region. However, for its own self-protection, it may do so. From the points discussed in the earlier paragraphs, the following conclusions are reached.
- The presence of the military in near-earth space is important for the defense of the United States. It is essential that there is a good missile defense system in place that would ensure that the citizens of the country are safe.
- The presence of a counter-attacking missile system using the LEO is also equally important to deter any enemy who might care to launch an attack on the nation. However, this has to be a deterrent and not really an offensive tool.
- A satellite-based reconnaissance system that would help in identifying the movement of the enemy at close quarters would ease the load on intelligence services. This is also an important requirement for the military on counterintelligence and espionage.
- Communication, weather and geo services are a necessity to ensure that the military is able to plan and launch its assault at any enemy target. In order to ensure that these happen on time and in line with the needs of the military, the satellites are of immense help and should offer a military presence in space.
- The SDI is a possible requirement that might become a need with the progress of technology and mankind. Therefore, there should be scope to improve and add on SDI with the progress of time.
References
- Alfred Monks July 1986. Soviet Military Doctrine in the 1980s: Implications for the SDI. In Soviet Views on Military Operations in Space by Jacob Kipp et al., Center for Strategic Technology, Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, pp. 129 -130.
- Christopher Bodeen 2007, China Instists there is no Asia Space race. Web.
- Defense Science Board, 2003. Acquisition of National Security Space Programs. Report of the Defense Science Board / Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, Joint Task Force.
- Major Patrick Crotty, USAF, et al., 1985. A new environmental military space doctrine: For today and tomorrow. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, p. 108.
- Major Peterson, 1991. Space Control and role of anti satellite weapons. Airpower Research Institute, Maxwell Airforce Base, Alabama.