Why Australia should have a military space policy

Earlier this year the US conducted a space weapons test using an SM-3 interceptor launched from the Pacific Ocean, which also employed the wider Ballistic Missile Defense System. The Bush Administration rationale for the test, to knock out a wayward satellite with a tank full of hydrazine fuel, lacked credibility at the time and the official rationale has been severely dented by astrophysicist Yousaf Butt, who has gained access to the NASA analysis used by the White House: Butt shows that a philosopher of science would have a field day with this study, given its methodological approach.

To be sure this followed China's test of a direct ascent space weapon, however the US has been committed to the weaponisation of space since at least the Clinton Administration (PDF 1.04MB) and has often conducted space war games with a thinly veiled reference to China. Also, the US throughout this period has opposed Russian and Chinese calls at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament for a space arms control regime, the opposition to which has become a feature of formal US space policy under Bush.

Should Australia participate in an Asia-Pacific SM-3 based BMD system alongside the US and Japan this may complicate relations with China, at a time when the US National Intelligence Council believes world order will be increasingly shaped by relative US decline, and would likely suck Australia into the "strategic vortex" of Northeast Asia, which Kevin Rudd stated he opposed when in opposition.

Australia is not threatened by medium range missiles and Aegis/SM-3 BMD would be a waste of money, which would be better directed toward an indigenous space policy.

In any discussion directed toward opposing "any moves" on the weaponisation and militarisation of space we need to take note of the Joint Facilities and Canberra's support for space assets that assist the US to project offensive global firepower.

Australia could adopt the following policy on space militarisation as part of a national space policy, namely:

• development of an indigenous military space intelligence and communications capability;
• oppose supporting US space programmes geared toward projecting US military firepower globally; and
• support a global arms control regime directed toward banning weapons in space.

Wholesale opposition to the militarisation of space in the context of wholesale opposition to the alliance with the US is not a viable policy option.

More broadly, we note that even though the government is drawing up a Defence White Paper the Left is basically absent from the debate, with hardly any record of a contemporary study devoted toward developing alternative security visions.