Military Space Power: A Guide to the Issues

(Hardback)

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This handbook examines the militarization of space, providing a fair and balanced discussion of the emerging issues concerning space security and defense. The militarization of space is already underway, with unpredictable consequences for the way war will be conducted in the future. Military Space Power: A Guide to the Issuesexamines the militarization of space from historical, technological, and geopolitical angles. It traces space militarization from concepts proposed before World War II through the use of space for military surveillance and communications purposes to the actual deployment of weapons that pass through high-altitude space, such as ballistic missiles and nuclear-armed interceptors. The book focuses on the main space pioneers like the United States, Russia, and China, but also includes discussion of potential future players. It looks at the state of current space technology, but also projects how recent inventions or new discoveries might be weaponized for the space environment. And it analyzes how the militarization of space might influence international relations. The result is a fair and balanced discussion of the emerging issues concerning space security and defense.

Author Bio

Wilson S. Wong is a security and defense researcher for the Aerospace Policy Research Group. James Fergusson is Director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies and Chair of the Political Studies Graduate Committee at the University of Manitoba. He is the editor of Aerospace Power: Beyond One Hundred Years of Theory and Practice (2005) and author of numerous papers, journal articles, book chapters, and government reports.