“He who controls space controls the Earth” -an assertion that began popping up a half century ago in the wake of Sputnik. What would we Americans do if we thought another nation-say China-was about to develop and deploy a comprehensive space-control capability and, possibly, place weapons in space? The aforementioned assertion is not intuitively false in any sense; in fact, the global arms race in our outer space has already begun and, EVERYTHING will change in this race.It doesn’t take much imagination to realize how badly war in space could unfold. For example, China in a confrontation over Taiwan, or Iran staring down America over the Iranian nuclear program - could knock out the American satellite system in a barrage of anti-satellite weapons, instantly paralyzing American troops, planes and ships around the world.
Space itself could be polluted for decades to come, rendered unusable.
The global economic system would probably collapse, along with air travel and communications. Your cell phone wouldn’t work. Nor would your A.T.M. or even that dashboard navigational gizmo you got for Christmas. And preventing an accidental nuclear exchange could become much more difficult.
The consequences of war in space are, in fact so cataclysmic that arms control advocates would like simply to prohibit the use of weapons beyond the earth’s atmosphere. But it may already be too late for that. Officials and experts have made it clear that the United States, for better or worse, is already committed to having the capacity to wage war in space. And that, it seems likely, will prompt others to keep pace.
Is war in space inevitable? The idea or such a war has been around since Sputnik, but for most of the cold war it remained safely within the realm of science fiction and the carefully proscribed American-Soviet arms race. That is now changing. A dozen countries now can reach space with satellites - and, therefore, with weapons.
In Delta Blue Squadron; America’s First Space Fleet, (132,340 words), author David Spriggs addresses the sobering facts on this issue, as well as the grim repercussions that our world may soon face in the aftermath of this battle for militarization and domination of our outer space. Successfully establishing an orbital militaristic dominance will be extremely beneficial to the U.S., however, as Spriggs explains, “This will not guarantee American security; it will guarantee conflict, and possibly, a new cold war. Until America gains complete control, our heavens will remain unsafe for us all.”
David Spriggs, born in Scioto County, Ohio, in 1934 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, currently spends his time as a freelance writer and poet. Since childhood, David’s love and curiosity for airplanes, space, and the undiscovered led him to join the Air Force in 1951 at the mere age of seventeen. These ten years of military service afforded him the opportunity to travel to twenty-seven countries, while specializing in the operation and maintenance of various types of aircraft. His concerns and topics in his writings focus primarily on issues such as the failing economy, government corruption, the Iraq war, and America’s progression at achieving domination of our outer space.
Posted by David M. Spriggs
David M. Spriggs