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29 January 2007 |
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http://www.kommersant.com:80/p-9965/r_530/... |
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India will set up an airspace defense center to oppose space attacks. India is an airspace state that should advance its space activities, BBC reported with reference to the Indian Air Force commander. The project of constructing facilities will be developed in view of experience generated when conducting the civil airspace programs but will be subordinate to military. India is by far not the only state that is interested in space as strategic area. China, for instance, tested its anti-satellite weapons January 12, having made clear the intention to explore near-Earth space environment in military purposes. During the test, Chinese middle-range ballistic missile successfully hit a meteorological satellite at the orbit of 865 kilometers. The incident rose concerns in the United States, which called the missile a satellite killer. Developing and testing such weapons contradict the spirit of cooperation between two countries, the White House commented duly supported by Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea. On the other hand, quite a few analysts, including from the United States, have repeatedly blamed on Washington the intention to establish a base for developing space weapons and militarizing the near-Earth space. The root cause of these accusations is the White House refusal to seal space weapon banning regulations. The United States was the only country that opposed the draft of the international treaty that the U.N. General Assembly put to vote October 2005 and that was backed up by 160 votes. At that time, the United States reasoned that there was no arms race in the space, and therefore, no need to seal any agreements on the issue. |
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