Star-crossed [space-based weapons]

This paper discusses the arguments for and against the development of space-based weapons in the US. It has been suggested that the military advantages that might be gained from space-based weapons are outweighed by the political and economic price that the US would have to pay. Deploying such weapons would also create new, asymmetric vulnerabilities to the US armed forces and would be a significant political and strategic departure from 50 years of international law and diplomatic relations. An attractive alternative to using space weapons to protect valuable communications, imaging and other satellites, however, is to reduce the dependence on space assets, thereby avoiding the political, economic and technical difficulties of space weapons. Even without space weapons, the US could respond to an attack on its satellite with its unmatched terrestrial military capabilities. Adversaries would expect a heavy toll to be exacted as a result of any attack on US satellites. That expectation alone would almost certainly suffice to deter any such attack.