Military space reconnaissance capabilities are proliferating. This week, the U.S., Israel, India, China and Brazil could advance their commercial, technological and strategic interests with new milsats set to be launched. Once aloft, the satellites will look into each other's backyards and try to steal each other's customers. And they all will be watching Iran.
As Iran faces international pressure over developing the raw material for nuclear weapons, Brazil is quietly preparing to open its own uranium-enrichment center, capable of producing exactly the same fuel.
Brazil's military continued work on a nuclear bomb after it was ordered to scrap the program in 1985 and by 1990 had nearly finished building one, according to a leading Brazillian nuclear scientist.
The author analyzes how the U.S. policy of protesting the development of nuclear weapons technology in some states like Iran or North Korea but not in others like Brazil or Pakistan has undermind the global norm against nonproliferation.
Space is becoming more multipolar as new countries (ex. China, Brazil) develop space capabilities and established space powers (ex. Russia, France) work to develop multipolar alternatives to U.S. commercial and military dominance in space.