Star-crossed

Realizing the growing strategic value of space, in January 2001 a congressionally mandated space commision urged the United States to maintain the option of weaponizing space, identifying three potential missions for space weapons. These included protecting existing U.S. systems in space, denying the use of space and space assets to adversaries, and attacking from space a target anywhere on land, at sea, or in the air. Realization of this roadmap to the future remains to be seen.