The debate over whether space should be militarized is effectively over, says Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
"Satellite surveillance and satellite navigation are critical areas of dependence for the U.S. military, so without those, a lot of the military systems we've developed are less effective or ineffective," Clark said.
He points to a new generation of nanosatellites, sometimes known as "servicing satellites," that are under development by Russia and China. They are ostensibly designed to repair satellites in orbit, but they could also be put to nefarious ends.
"Servicing satellites are providing the capability to go and manipulate satellites in orbit in a way that would cause them to be disabled or render them unable to do the job that they are supposed to do," Clark said…