US readies $5bn for anti-China orbital defense weaponry

The U.S. is planning to splash out up to 5-billion dollars on orbital defense. One of the key reasons behind the spending spree, according to Washington, is a potential threat from China.

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From time-honored Star Wars to modern-day guardians of the galaxy the powers of space have fired the imagination of movie directors for decades. Well space combat could be coming from cinemas screens to real-life much faster than the may have thought and here's why.

"The threat in space I fundamentally believe is a real one and it's been demonstrated so we have to be ready for any campaign that extends its way into space," says Cecil D. Haney,US Strategic Commander and Navy Admiral.

The US is planning to splash up to five billion dollars on orbital defense. Washington cites a potential threat from China as one of the key reasons behind the budget boost. Beijing is believed to have conducted at least three anti-satellite test that sparked fears in the US but not everyone agrees that China poses a plausible threat.

Bruce Gagnon, Co-ordinator of The Global Network Against Weapons: "I don't think China immediately is a threat to US satellites but I do believe that China is developing new capabilities to be able to knockout a US military satellite in times of warfare. The United States is absolutely reliant on the eyes in the sky military satellites to fight its wars today. China is aware of that and so China is trying to develop that capability in a way that could back off the United States."

As a matter of fact, Washington has quite an anti-satellite program of its own. America's first successful shooting of a satellite happened as far back as 1985 with the most recent one in 2008. Its and if you thought the edge is gone from Washington's space race ambitions well think again. US has had its eye firmly on the competition and are afraid of losing their advantage.

Bruce Gagnon thinks America's simply looking for a pretext to satisfy its military ambition. "The United States and Israel at the United Nations are blocking a treaty called Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space that is annually introduced by China and Russia. So clearly the United States resists the development and new treaties in the United Nations because they don't wanna be inhibited, they don't wanna be stopped from taking full control of space."