Space Imperialism on the Horizon

An article in Christian Science Monitor pulls together details from multiple sources, outlining China's apparent interest in militarizing outer space.

On or about January 19th, China destroyed one of its own satellites. Military experts view this as the beginnings of militarizing space. Once a country has the ability to shoot down satellites, then the ability of collecting surveillance on that country is diminished. So, one can understand the DoD's concern.

At issue is air space and the concept of territoriality. A country's boundaries extend into the sky, "airspace," and into the ocean depths, "territorial waters." But what about space?

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 bans the use of space and celestial objects for military purposes. Thusly, none of the signatories can orbit missile platforms or conduct military operations in space, on the moon, Mars, Pluto, etc.

The treaty does not cover shooting down satellites from earth, however.

So much for Science Fiction battles ...