Projecting the future of space utilization, including the weaponization of space, is fraught with peril. Nader Elhefnawy looks back at one particularly alarmist prediction and what it means for current concerns about military activities in space.
Since the beginning of the Space Age, space programs have been adjuncts of national policy rather than self-sustaining ventures in their own right. Nader Elhefnawy discusses how a shift to space resource exploitation could alter that formula, depending on national and international politics.
Space solar power has been an intriguing concept for decades, but one that has failed to gain traction because of its high costs and cheaper terrestrial alternatives for energy. Jeff Foust reports that, thanks to a series of event and a new champion for the concept within the US government, space solar power is getting a new look.
Taylor Dinerman looks at how solar power satellites could solve the power requirements of the space based radar required for missile defense systems.
James Oberg counters some of the misperceptions and inaccuracies regarding space weaponization that have appeared in the press following the Chinese anti-satellite weapon test.
In the 1970s many believed that space was the answer to the expected impending shortage of energy and other resources, a belief that was discredited by declines in resource prices in the decades that followed. Now, says Nader Elhefnawy, it may be time to revisit those earlier claims.
The administration’s new national space policy, which does not rule out the deployment of weapons in space, is a counterpoint to international efforts to restrict or prohibit such weapons. Nader Elhefnawy examines whether that policy may actually be counterproductive to broader national interests.
The new national space policy released last month generated a considerable response, but not necessarily a lot of informed insight. Dwayne Day thoroughly studies the policy, its significance, and its implications.
Much of the media attention that the new space policy did receive focused on assertions that it opens the door for the US to deploy space weapons. James Oberg pierces some of the hype surrounding this issue, from claims that the US is actively developing space weapons to efforts to negotiate treaties to ban them.
The author rebuts the claims made in a recent article about the Chinese challenge to the European Union's global positioning system.