Aviation Week and Space Technology reports on a top-secret military space plane project that was recently shelved. The project, code-named "Blackstar", was a two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane system designed in the 1980s for reconnaissance, satellite-insertion and, possibly, weapons delivery.

Last-minute overview of the differences between Bush and Kerry on the issue of space weapons and space-based missile defense.

A U.S. Defense Department report says tests of space-based missile interceptors that could take place beginning in 2012 will create debris that could threaten the international space station, space shuttles and satellites in low Earth orbit.

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The author examines the political debate over whether the U.S. missile defense system will lead to the "weaponization of outer space".

More than two decades after President Ronald Reagan set a goal of developing a space-based missile defense, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is planning for an early 2006 test that could produce the first intercept of a target using a kill vehicle launched from space, according to Defense Department officials.

The proposed US defense budget for 2005 shows a clear path towards space-based missile interceptors which could also be used to attack satellites.

The United States is exploring concepts for basing missile interceptors in space with the objective of beginning deployment of three to five armed satellites for testing purposes as early as 2008, according to recent Pentagon briefings and statements.

Russia has begun a plan to build a missile-defense shield, including a space-based defense system, along the lines of one being developed by the United States according to top Russian officials.

Russia plans to develop an extensive missile defense system, which could include space-based components, according to Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. ?We will definitely develop theater missile defense systems, as well as space defenses,? Ivanov said.

The authors, researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists, reveal the inherent anti-satellite capabilities of several of the U.S. military's missile defense plans.