Sky no longer limit for weapons?

WASHINGTON — Since Sputnik arced across the sky in 1957, space has essentially been a weapons-free zone — exempted from war at times by international treaties and at others by the prohibitive expense and impracticality of arming the heavens.

Today, however, as more nations gain access to space — and as success in war becomes far more dependent on satellite surveillance and communication — the United States is reassessing its space policy.

The new position, emerging in documents and congressional testimony, in many respects mirrors President Bush's military policy on the ground — expanding pre-emption and prevention into the ether, both to strike enemy lands and satellites during times of conflict and to keep America's satellites safe.

The president's vision could be scuttled by cost or controversy. Yet it marks a new moment in the debate over the appropriate use of space as administration officials worry that one of America's greatest military advantages — dominance of space — could become increasingly vulnerable.

"The modern style of American warfare is impossible without space," says John Pike, a defense analyst at Globalsecurity.org. "It's one of the reasons that we're a superpower."

Never has that been more obvious than in Afghanistan and Iraq. While the first Gulf War offered glimpses into how satellites could support a superpower's efforts to wage war on the other side of the globe, the forces that entered Iraq in 1991 were different from those in Iraq today. Today's military is smaller, more agile, more technologically sophisticated — and more dependent on the space network.

"We're no longer talking about large, massed forces," says Maj. Gen. Michael Hamel, commander of Space Air Forces at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. "With smaller forces, the way to remain dominant is through superior information, knowledge and decision-making — and space becomes critical."

This is the military envisioned by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and his vision goes even further — to a time when satellite technology helps connect soldiers to real-time data about the battlefield and commands a suite of robotic weapons.

"The lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan indicate technology has revolutionized the way we conduct military operations," said Rep. Terry Everett, R-Alabama, at a congressional hearing. "Space rests at the forefront of this revolution."