Space Debris Affirmative
Advantage 1: Satellites (6/7)
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- Advantage 1: Satellites (7/7)
Advantage 1: Satellites (6/7)(continued) own," he said. U.S. policy-makers must be careful not to develop anti-satellite capabilities or policies that are likely to provoke retaliation against U.S. space assets, he said. "If we can maintain space deterrence by other than offensive means, we should certainly do so," he said. "If there are no other feasible alternatives, then we should develop a limited offensive capability in a deterrence context." A key consideration for anti-satellite capabilities is to avoid creating more space debris, MacDonald said. He called for a ban on kinetic energy anti-satellite weapons that destroy satellites by smashing into them, creating a cloud of orbiting fragments. " US relies on satellites for all military purposes. Hitchens 03 (Theresa, Disarmament Forum, Editor of Defense News 1998-2000, Vice President Center for Defense Initiatives, Making Space for Security, Monsters and Shadows: left unchecked, American fears regarding threats to space assets will drive weaponization, 2003, http://www.unidir.org/pdf/articles/pdf-art1884.pdf,pgs 16-17 NG) The simple fact is that the American military could not operate the way it does today, on a worldwide basis, without the use of space. In particular, intelligence gathered via imaging and electronic eavesdropping satellites, instantaneous communications, and the use of satellite navigation tools to guide precision-weapons have totally reshaped the American way of war over the last decade. Indeed Pentagon officials to assess whether the military is overly dependent on space systems. 7 The United States outspends the rest of the world by vast amounts in the military space arena, accounting for 94.8% of global military space budgets in 1999. 8 And there i s a nea r l y ins a t i able demand among the American military services for more bandwidth as networking the battlefield, from mobile forces in the field to strategic bombers at home, has become a key goal of the Pentagon effort to transform American military operations to better meet the challenges of global engagement in the post-Cold War world. For example, the demand for access to the radio spectrum in Afghanistan for use in such tasks as guiding unmanned aerial vehicles exceeded the bandwidth available. According to the House Government Reform Committee, ‘Satellite bandwidth used in Operation Allied Force in Kosovo was 2.5 times that used in Desert Storm, while forces used were only one-tenth the size’—and the Pentagon’s spectrum requirements for mobile communications are expected to grow by 90% by 2005. 9 ‘Today, information gathered from and transmitted through space is an integral component of American military strategy and operations. Space-based capabilities enable military forces to be warned of missile attacks, to communicate instantaneously, to obtain near real-time information that can be transmitted rapidly from satellite to attack platform, to navigate to conflict area while avoiding hostile defenses along the way, and to identify and strike targets from air, land or sea with precise and devastating effect’, states the Space Commission report. 10 While many military satellites have built in certain types of protection, such as hardening against electro-magnetic radiation that would be emitted from a nuclear weapon burst, commercial satellites have little protection. In fact, a key concern for the American military is the vulnerability of communications satellites providing such services as television broadcasting, mobile telecommunications and Internet access. This is because the American military relies on commercial providers for about 60% of its communications needs. 11 Furthermore, Tenet has just directed American intelligence agencies to use more commercial imagery for mapping, and other purposes. 12 This is in part because so-called national technical means, the nation’s spy satellites, are being overtasked by the ‘war on terrorism’. Satellites currently threatened by space debris. Kislyakov 10 (RIA Novosti political commentator, Military and Space Review, Space debris threaten Earth, Dec 22, 2010, http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/36564197/37343874.html, MS) Space debris denote man-made objects in orbit around Earth that no longer serve any useful purpose but which endanger operational satellites, primarily manned spacecraft. In some cases, space junk may threaten Earth during reentry because some fragments do not burn Advantage 1: Satellites (7/7)(continued) up completely and can hit houses, industrial facilities and transport networks. Right now, 40 million fragments of space debris weighing several thousand metric tons circle Earth. In mid-February last year, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs reaffirmed the importance of guiding principles to prevent the formation of space debris for all nations. Satellite crowding increase threats of collisions with debris. Carbonnel 6/28 (Alissa de Carbonnel, writer at Reuters.com, Reuters.com, Space debris risks colliding with orbital station, 6/28/11; http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/28/us-russia-us-space-idUSTRE75R48M20110628, rn) Only 10 percent of all objects in Earth's orbit are satellites, while the rest is trash: spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, acceleration blocks and other debris, a spokesman for the agency told state news agency Itar-tass. Even small objects present a danger to astronauts in orbit, where trash the size of an egg can travel at dangerous speeds. The minefield of space debris is a growing hazard with ever more satellites in orbit, and one of the most important challenges of future orbital ventures, industry expert Vladimir Gubarev told Reuters. "Everything is spaced out just some 100 meters from each other. One satellite gets in the way of the next. It's way too crowded," said Gubarev, a renown space journalist and the Soviet spokesman for the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 394.08 Kb. Share with your friends:
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