Stopping Space Militarization

Dual use technologies make it especially difficult for countries to negotiate agreements over the weaponization of space. The New Scientists asks what positive steps can be taken. “It starts with a handful of missiles taking out orbiting satellites. The shrapnel destroys more satellites and triggers a chain reaction, generating yet more high-speed debris. Before long, we’re trapped on Earth in the nightmare scenario: space is a no-go zone, made too dangerous to use for generations by countless chunks of junk. That is the risk of ‘space war’ that the US White House seeks to avoid with its National Space Policy, released on 28 June.”