Michael J. Coumatos is a former U.S. Navy test pilot, ship's captain, and commodore; U.S. Space Command director of wargaming; and a government counterterrorism advisor. William Scott is a retired bureau chief of Aviation Week and Space Technology and a nine-year Air force veteran who served as aircrew on nuclear sampling missions. He is a six-time Royal Aeronautical Society "Journalist of the Year" finalist, and won the Society's 1998 Lockheed Martin Award for the "Best Defense Submission." He also received both the 2006 and 2007 Messier-Dowty awards for "Best Airshow Submission." With the help of New York Times bestselling author William J. Birnes, these renowned experts have joined forces to grippingly depict how the first hours of World War III might play out in the year 2010. Coumatos, Scott, and Birnes take the reader inside U.S. Strategic Command, where top military commanders, space-company executives, and U.S. intelligence experts are conducting a DEADSATS II wargame, exploring how the loss of critical satellites could lead to nuclear war. The players don't know that the war they are gaming has already begun, miles above them in the lifeless, silent cold of space. Jam-packed with the actual systems and secret technologies the United States has or will soon field to protect its space assets, Space Wars describes a near-future nuclear nightmare that terrorists will relish but politicians prefer to ignore. In a quieter, more peaceful time, Space Wars would be an exciting work of fiction. But with the United States now at war, Space Wars is all too real. . At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Futuristic illustrations and accompanying text describe science fiction artists' and writers' views of the future.

With the recent influx of spaceflight and satellite launches, the region of outer space has become saturated with vital technology used for communication and surveillance and the functioning of business and government. But what would happen if these capabilities were disrupted or even destroyed? How would we react if faced with a full-scale blackout of satellite communications? What can and has happened following the destruction of a satellite? In the short term, the aftermath would send thousands of fragments orbiting Earth as space debris. In the longer term, the ramifications of such an event on Earth and in space would be alarming, to say the least. This book takes a look at such crippling scenarios and how countries around the world might respond in their wake. It describes the aggressive actions that nations could take and the technologies that could be leveraged to gain power and control over assets, as well as to initiate war in the theater of outer space. The ways that a country's vital capabilities could be disarmed in such a setting are investigated. In addition, the book discusses our past and present political climate, including which countries currently have these abilities and who the aggressive players already are. Finally, it addresses promising research and space technology that could be used to protect us from those interested in destroying the world's vital systems.

A brightly colored snake challenges readers to a game of hide and seek as he hides among familiar objects.

This new study considers military space strategy within the context of the land and naval strategies of the past. Explaining why and how strategists note the similarities of space operations to those of the air and naval forces, this book shows why many such strategies unintentionally lead to overemphasizing the importance of space-based offensive weaponry and technology. Counter to most U.S. Air Force doctrines, the book argues that space-based weapons don’t imbue superiority. It examines why both air and naval strategic frameworks actually fail to adequately capture the scope of real-world issues regarding current space operations. Yet by expanding a naval strategic framework to include maritime activities—which includes the interaction of land and sea—the breadth of issues and concerns regarding space activities and operations can be fully encompassed. Commander John Klein, United States Navy, uses Sir Julian Corbett’s maritime strategy as a strategic springboard, while observing the salient lessons of other strategists—including Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Jomini, and Mao Tse-tung—to show how a space strategy and associated principles of space warfare can be derived to predict concerns, develop ideas, and suggest policy not currently recognized. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of military and strategic studies and to those with an interest in space strategy in particular.

Applying strategic theory to outer space and drawing out the implications for international relationsOffers a definitive and original vision of space warfare that theorises often-overlooked aspects of contemporary space activities based in the discipline of Strategic Studies. This original research draws out the implications of spacepower for wider debate in grand strategy and IR.Applies the theory in a topical and contentious area within contemporary grand strategy - anti-access and area-denial warfare in the Taiwan Strait between China and America.Key principles are summarised in seven propositions to make the key take-aways of theory applicable and memorable for researchers and practitioners.This book presents a theory of spacepower and considers the implications of space technology on strategy and international relations. The spectre of space warfare stalks the major powers as outer space increasingly defines geopolitical and military competition. As satellites have become essential for modern warfare, strategists are asking whether the next major war will begin or be decided in outer space. Only strategic theory can explore the decisiveness and effects of war in space upon `grand strategy' and international relations. The author applies the wisdom of military strategy to outer space, and presents a compelling new vision of Earth orbit as a coastline, rather than an open ocean or an extension of airspace as many have assumed. Rooted in the classical military works of Clausewitz, Mahan, and Castex to name a few, this book presents comprehensive principles for strategic thought about space that explain the pervasive and inescapable influence of spacepower on strategy and the changing military balance of the 21st century.

This book examines the recent shift in US space policy and the forces that continually draw the US back into a space-technology security dilemma. The dual-use nature of the vast majority of space technology, meaning of value to both civilian and military communities and being unable to differentiate offensive from defensive intent of military hardware, makes space an area particularly ripe for a security dilemma. In contrast to previous administrations, the Obama Administration has pursued a less militaristic space policy, instead employing a strategic restraint approach that stressed multilateral diplomacy to space challenges. The latter required international solutions and the United States, subsequently, even voiced support for an International Code of Conduct for Space. That policy held until the Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) test in 2013, which demonstrated expanded Chinese capabilities. This volume explores the issues arising from evolving space capabilities across the world and the security challenges this poses. It subsequently discusses the complexity of the space environment and argues that all tools of national power must be used, with some degree of balance, toward addressing space challenges and achieving space goals. This book will be of much interest to students of space policy, defence studies, foreign policy, security studies and IR.

Unfortunately, much of what people believe about war in space has been shaped, or misshaped, by Hollywood and other forms of popular media. In this book a STEM educator and a political science professor team up to explore the possibilities for warfare in space and explain why almost everything you've learned about space wars from movies is disappointingly wrong. The truth is stranger and more interesting than fiction. Using history, politics and STEM as guides, this book provides a detailed account of how Earth’s first war in space will be fought. As we show, it will begin not as an invasion of Earth by super-advanced aliens but by Earth starting a war with its Martian colony.

This book examines the rise of great power competition in space, including the relevant and practical space strategies for China, Russia, the United States, and other countries. The work discusses the concepts and writings of past strategists, such as Thucydides, Sun Tzu, and Clausewitz, in relation to warfare initiated in or extending into space. This analysis underscores why polities initiate war based upon an assessment of fear, honor, and interest, and explains why this will also be true of war in space. Based upon the timeless strategic writings of the past, the book uncovers the strategy of space warfare, along with the concepts of deterrence, dissuasion, and the inherent right of self-defense, and outlines strategies for great, medium, and emerging space powers. Additionally, it highlights changes needed to space strategy based upon the Law of Armed Conflict, norms of behavior, and Rules of Engagement. The work also examines advancements and emerging trends in the commercial space sector, as well as what these changes mean for the implementation of a practical space strategy. Given the rise of great power competition in space, this work presents a space strategy based upon historical experience. This book will be of much interest to students of space policy, strategic studies, and International Relations.

In contrast to the close cooperation practiced among European states, space relations among Asian states have become increasingly tense. If current trends continue, the Asian civilian space competition could become a military race. To better understand these emerging dynamics, James Clay Moltz conducts the first in-depth policy analysis of Asia's fourteen leading space programs, concentrating especially on developments in China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Moltz isolates the domestic motivations driving Asia's space actors, revisiting critical events such as China's 2007 antisatellite weapons test and manned flights, Japan's successful Kaguya lunar mission and Kibo module for the International Space Station (ISS), India's Chandrayaan lunar mission, and South Korea's astronaut visit to the ISS, along with plans to establish independent space-launch capability. He investigates these nations' divergent space goals and their tendency to focus on national solutions and self-reliance rather than regionwide cooperation and multilateral initiatives. He concludes with recommendations for improved intra-Asian space cooperation and regional conflict prevention. Moltz also considers America's efforts to engage Asia's space programs in joint activities and the prospects for future U.S. space leadership. He extends his analysis to the relationship between space programs and economic development in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, making this a key text for international relations and Asian studies scholars.