Almost 45 years after my vision of “Star Wars” (and 40 years after Reagan's elusive “space shield”), I have overcome my amazement. I'm writing an article that is simultaneously part of the "military" and "space" categories. Who would have thought? Between seriously exploring the cosmos and fighting in orbit, the second perspective almost seems closer.
The USA does not send them to say
There is an American general, Jesse Morehouse, which doesn't beat around the bush and talks openly about "star war". He declared that America is ready to fight in space, if necessary, even immediately.
It's not a sci-fi scenario, and Morehouse isn't just any one: he's a brigadier general in the United States Space Command. When he says that his country is ready to fight in space, he does so to send a clear message: to US allies, of course, but above all to potential adversaries such as Russia and China. And this brings me to the second observation, a natural consequence.
What are the potential targets to fight in space?
Obviously we are not talking about aliens (at least until tomorrow), nor of spaceships armed with laser beams. In a possible space war, attacks would primarily be aimed at other people's satellites to destabilize critical infrastructure.
Satellites, as you imagine, play a crucial role in defense communications and navigation.
If anyone threatens the United States of America, or any of our interests, including those of our allies and partners with whom we have mutual defense support treaties, we stand ready to fight tonight.
Jesse Morehouse, speaking at the American Embassy in London
The new space race is (also) military
In the 60s, the Soviet Union was America's main contender to put a man on the Moon. Today, when the Russian space program seems to be losing ground following conflicts and sanctions, the most serious and determined contender is the Chinese space program.
Fighting in space, therefore, has become a plausible prospect, but no less stupid for this. Just think about the possible damage: even simple tests of anti-satellite missiles can generate a cloud of space debris, a risk for other satellites and for space missions.
On the other hand, Morehouse himself compared the creation of a debris cloud to having “a nuclear weapon in your own backyard,” with severe self-inflicted damage.
Fighting in space. What do you want me to tell you?
I have no doubts about the propensity of the USA or other nations to "fight again tonight", or to flex their muscles to defend their interests. Just as I have no doubt that technologies are being developed that can disable satellites without creating space debris. The point is not this.
The point is that, with a double jump, in the space of a simple post I have already gone from disbelief to disgust. Human beings are not evolving enough: and instead of resolving their limitations and conflicts, they are taking them with them off the planet.
Just like in a movie. One we don't like.
