Oct 21 1980
From The Space Library
The Washington Star reported a warning from the Center for Defense Information ("an unofficial defense study group") that technological progress in U.S. and Soviet space programs could spark an arms race in space. The United States had a 12x13-inch device-the miniature homing interceptor vehicle-that could home in on infrared radiation "to destroy a target satellite by high-speed impact," the group said; if the device were actually tested in space, "it could destroy more than the target satellite: it could destroy U.S. and Soviet negotiations aimed at limiting antisatellite warfare as well." The group said that the Pentagon believed that the Soviet Union had an operational but limited antisatellite weapon that had been tested about 17 times; 7 of the tests were failures, but 10 were "possible successes" in that the interceptor passed less than a mile from the targets. No target was destroyed, suggesting that the Soviet Union might be working on inspection of foreign satellites. PRC reconnaissance satellites traveled in orbits like those of the Soviet test targets, and an interception program might be aimed mainly at the Chinese, the group said.
Rear Adm. Gene LaRocque (USN-ret.), head of the center, said wars might begin in space "but they're going to end right here on earth. It won't be a Star Wars show with a lot of robots... vaporizing each other in the remote regions of space. . . . Once those nuclear missiles start to fly, the science-fiction drama will be over." (W Star, Oct 21/80, D-10)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
