Space weapons hurt satellites, which are key to the military and disaster relief
Krepon 5 – Michael Krepon is co-founder of Stimson, and director of the South Asia and Space Security programs. Prior to co-founding Stimson, he worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Carter administration, and in the US House of Representatives, assisting Congressman Norm Dicks. Krepon received an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Franklin & Marshall College. He also studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. 2005, "Space Security or Space Weapons?" www.gsinstitute.org/docs/Stimson_Space_brief.pdf
SPACE WEAPONS PLACE LIVES AT RISK Emergency response crews, police cruisers, and search and rescue teams rely on satellite navigation to find their destinations. Our armed forces depend on satellites to win decisively, with a minimum of casualties. Humanitarian relief workers and doctors using pagers and cell phones also depend on satellites. When satellites are endangered, lives are endangered. PROTECTING OUR SATELLITES What can be done to improve the safety of our satellites? We can add passive protective features to new satellites. We need spares and substitutes. We need to be smarter about potential threats to our satellites — natural and man-made. All of these steps will be undermined if space weapons are tested and deployed. To protect satellites and save lives, we need to prevent space weapons. EVERYONE RELIES ON SATELLITES Every day lives are saved through the help of satellites. Here are just a few of the life-saving services that require satellites: • Police/Fire/Emergency Management Navigation • 911 Services • Search and Rescue Operations • Natural Disaster Damage Assessment • Disease Tracking • Hurricane and Tornado Prediction • Parolee Monitoring • Remote Diagnosis and Surgery Assistance • Earthquake and Volcano Monitoring • Emergency Communication • Airplane Navigation • Precise Marine Vessel Navigation • Train Control and Collision Avoidance SATELLITES HELP RELIEF OPERATIONS During natural disasters, first responders rely on satellite information to save lives. Supply and airlift routes are planned with the help of picture-taking and navigation satellites. Rescuers use the Global Positioning System to help pinpoint victims and relay their location to rescue teams and medical personnel. The life-saving value of satellites was never clearer than after the December 2004 tsunami.
Satellites are key to the US military
Krepon 5 – Michael Krepon is co-founder of Stimson, and director of the South Asia and Space Security programs. Prior to co-founding Stimson, he worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Carter administration, and in the US House of Representatives, assisting Congressman Norm Dicks. Krepon received an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Franklin & Marshall College. He also studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. 2005, "Space Security or Space Weapons?" www.gsinstitute.org/docs/Stimson_Space_brief.pdf
Satellites save lives every day by predicting storms and helping those who are lost and in need. No one benefits more from satellites than US soldiers in harm’s way. The US armed forces depend on satellites to make their way safely through trackless deserts and dangerous neighborhoods. Satellites help with communication, navigation, and targeting. They help our soldiers win quickly, decisively, and with a minimum of casualties. No nation gains more military benefit from the use of satellites than the United States – and no nation has more to lose if space becomes a shooting gallery.
SMIL Bad --- Space Debris 1NC Space weapons cause massive space debris – causes fallout in space like nuclear weapons on earth
Weston 9 – Major Scott A. Weston, US Air Force, Troy University; MA, Naval Postgraduate School, 2009, "Examining Space Warfare: Scenarios, Risks, and US Policy Implications," Air & Space Power Journal. XXIII, No. 1, 73-82, www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj09/spr09/weston.html
Of the conflicts that would utilize the space-based weapons sought by those who advocate space dominance, we are left with limited, regional fights with nuclear and spacefaring nations as the only current, applicable scenarios for robust counterspace operations. Even in the most vivid dreams of such advocates, the development of space-based kinetic or directed-energy defenses against dominant space powers would not prevent jamming, laser, or ground-station attacks from denying or damaging space capabilities. In the worst case of unintended consequences, these new weapons in space would inspire attacks from other space-based weapons or from ground-based kinetic ASAT weapons, likely leading to a multiplication of space debris.The scenario of a space Pearl Harbor fails to take into account the fact that a kinetic attack against a single satellite becomes a debris-cloud attack against all satellites in or crossing that orbit. Thus, what is presented as a handful of limited attacks against one nation becomes an indiscriminate attack against all present spacefaring nations—and could create a debris field that might render many valuable orbits unusable for decades or even centuries.41 Kinetic space weapons, therefore, have long-lasting environmental effects similar to those produced by the use of nuclear weapons on the ground, in that they create contaminated, idle regions.
Any further increase in space debris would threaten GPS
Ansdell 10 – Megan Ansdell, second year graduate student in the Master in International Science and Technology Policy program at the George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs where she focuses on space policy, “Active Space Debris Removal: Needs, Implications, and Recommendations for Today’s Geopolitical Environment,” http://www.princeton.edu/jpia/past-issues-1/2010/Space-Debris-Removal.pdf
There are currently hundreds of millions of space debris fragments orbiting the Earth at speeds of up to several kilometers per second. Although the majority of these fragments result from the space activities of only three countries—China, Russia, and the United States—the indiscriminate nature of orbital mechanics means that they pose a continuous threat to all assets in Earth’s orbit. There are now roughly 300,000 pieces of space debris large enough to completely destroy operating satellites upon impact (Wright 2007, 36; Johnson 2009a, 1). It is likely that space debris will become a significant problem within the next several decades. Predictive studies show that if humans do not take action to control the space debris population, an increasing number of unintentional collisions between orbiting objects will lead to the runaway growth of space debris in Earth’s orbit (Liou and Johnson 2006). This uncontrolled growth of space debris threatens the ability of satellites to deliver the services humanity has come to rely on in its day-to-day activities. For example, Global Positioning System (GPS) precision timing and navigation signals are a significant component of the modern global economy; a GPS failure could disrupt emergency response services, cripple global banking systems, and interrupt electric power grids (Logsdon 2001).
GPS is key to the economy – jobs
Gydesen 6 – Paul W. Gydesen, Lieutenant Colonel of USAF, February 2006, “What Is The Impact To National Security Without Commercial Space Applications?” http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc/gydesen.pdf
The last few years have shown significant growth in space-related industries. The commercial space industry is comprised of the manufacturers, service providers, space applications, and space support services. The manufacturing segment is further broken down into the building of the satellite bus, satellite sensors, launch vehicles, and equipment for ground stations. The service providers include broadcast television, telecommunications, internet, and mobile phone. The space application area includes Global Positioning System (GPS) users, remote sensing (imagery), and weather data. Support services are the external business requirements such as legal service, licensing, and insurance. After a manufacturing slump in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to the dot com failures, and again in 2002 due to over capitalization, the manufacturing market took an upward swing in 2003. Orders for new satellites went from three in 2002 to 17 in 2003.24 This in turn improved the space industry job market in the United States as well as other countries. The jobs created by the space industry are typically high paying technical jobs. Employers are looking for engineers, mathematicians, physicists, accountants, etc. These higher paying jobs bring educated professionals with disposable income into communities. This in turn grows the local economy as these individuals demand homes, cars, furniture, and all manner of services. This leads to additional employment opportunities in the community and expands the government’s tax base. All this growth is due to the demand for space-related services from the general population and by businesses that see space as a way to improve efficiency and lower costs.
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