A $10 million request by the Pentagon to help fund a prototype space-based missile defence system is sounding the alarm for those who fear space may be turned into a shooting gallery.
While this is no more than small change for the Pentagon, Sam Black of the independent Center for Defense Information in Washington DC warns that the programme may be bigger than advertised, boosted by extra funding from the classified part of the Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar budget. “We’d like to see a debate before they put something in orbit,” he says.
Orbiting missile interceptors would “greatly enhance” US defences, the head of the Missile Defense Agency, Trey Obering, told Congress last week. The MDA says it wants the money to carry out small initial experiments.
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