The Myths of Militarization of Space

The Militarization I T h e dominant popular image of the U.S. space program is the work of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The flights of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and now the Space Shuttle programs are etched into U.S. history and character. At the same time, however, space and space systems are important, in fact essential, to U.S. security. That should come as no surprise to anyone, but it is surprising how often the United States is accused of a new and sinister plan to militarize space. Indeed, U.S. security activities in space are seen by some critics as increasing the risk of a catastrophic nuclear war. The result of much of this criticism-what may best be termed "misconceptions " in light of the more prominent public face of the civilian side of the U.S. space program-is what I call a "mythology" of the militarization of space. In particular, the mythology centers on three central statements or assertions. First, "the military use of space is new"; that is, the role and mission of defense systems in space were started and forced onto a resisting world by the current Administration. Second, "the military is not interested in the use of military man in space"; it is trying to avoid the use of man in space at all costs. And third, "the United States is behind [the Soviet Union or other countries] in space." Taking each of these assertions in turn, I hope to explain that what is being done is neither new nor sinister, nor is it aimed at any purpose other than the security and defense of the United States. What about myth number one? Just how new is the military use of space? Consider the facts. The first United States government agency to be involved in a space launch attempt (unsuccessfully) was the U.S. Navy with the Vanguard project in 1957.Later, the first satellite orbited by the United States was Explorer I, launched on a modified Army Redstone booster (redesignated Jupiter-C). The first Air Force spacecraft was a 1958lunar probe launched on a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile. We discovered that the physical characteristics of space, and the properties of systems in space, meant that we could perform some defense missions better or only from far above Earth's surface. For example, since it needed to have worldwide communication and since space was a logical place for Edward C. Aldridge, Ir. is Secretary of the Air Force. From 1981 to 1985, as Utzdersecretnnj of the Air Force, he was responsible for oversight, management, and direcfionof the entire Air Force space program. hternational Securify, Spring 1987 (Vol. 11, No. 4) 01987by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 151 International Security I 152 communications systems with global capability, the United States launched its first military communications satellite in 1958. The same “high ground” position that made satellites so effective for communications systems made space a natural site for weather observation, hence the launching of the first U.S. weather satellite in 1960. That same year the first navigation satellite, primarily supporting the U.S. Navy, was put into orbit. One mission far more effectively performed from space was (and is) strategic attack warning. The first early warning satellite, named MIDAS (missile detection alarm system), was launched in 1960, and the second early warning system, SAMOS (space and missile observation system), flew in 1961. The first of the Vela satellites, used to monitor compliance with the nuclear test ban treaty, was orbited in 1963. Thus, U.S. space systems have flown and operated in support of national defense for more than 25 years. In that same period, the defense space community worked closely in support of the far more visible NASA effort.’ The Air Force, for example, developed the space launch boosters for the Mercury and Gemini programs and launched all the Mercury and Gemini missions for NASA. Although the first man to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong, a civilian, the second was military, Air Force Colonel Edwin ”Buzz” Aldrin. Today, space systems are used in a variety of ways. For...