It does not take much imagination to realize how badly war in space could unfold. An enemy — say, China in a confrontation over Taiwan, or Iran staring down America over the Iranian nuclear program — could knock out the U.S. 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 would not work. Nor would your ATM and that dashboard navigational gizmo you got for Christmas. And preventing an accidental nuclear exchange could become much more difficult.
"The fallout, if you will, could be tremendous," said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington.
The consequences of war in space are in fact so cataclysmic that arms control advocates like Kimball would like simply to prohibit the use of weapons beyond the earth's atmosphere.
But it may already be too late for that.
In the weeks since an American rocket slammed into an out-of-control satellite over the Pacific Ocean, 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.
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