'We should arm our spacecraft'

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket launches from pad 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying a classified spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

(Image credit: Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

By Harold Maass, The Week US

published 21 May 2024

'Yes, militarize space'

Rich Lowry at National Review

The Pentagon is reportedly working on improving its ability to wage war in space, says Rich Lowry. "It's about time." The "romantic nonsense" about keeping space "pristine" is dangerous. "Even if we wanted to keep space weapons-free, space is already a domain central to modern military operations." The Pentagon depends on communications and "reconnaissance provided by space." And one day space-based weapons could "intercept nuclear weapons." Dominating this "contested domain" is crucial to "deter and win wars."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.