PIR: Volume 64 No 4

To read the Winter 2011 PIR in its entirety please click here. 

Rules of the Road: Responsible Use of Weapons in Space
Should a major outage of satellite capacity occur, financial and trade markets could collapse, a recession 
spanning the globe would ensue, and security tensions would exacerbate. Should the United States seize the
initiative and secure low-Earth orbit while its allies are unchallenged in space?

Managing Risk in Space
Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, governments and commercial companies have placed thousands of satellites in orbit around the Earth. Today, there are more than 16,000 active satellites and debris in the public catalog of tracked objects. Governments and businesses operating spacecraft need to take a new approach to enhance the safety and efficacy of the space environment.

The Anti-Satellite Capability of the Phased Adaptive Approach Missile Defense System
On February 14, 2008, General James Cartwright announced the United States would destroy a nonresponsive intelligence satellite soon to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere using the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. While framed as a public safety measure, some observers expressed skepticism that this risk was the real or entire motivation for the exercise. The interception demonstrated the ASAT capability of the U.S. Aegis sea-based missile defense system. 

How to Work in the New Space Security Environment
More than 40 countries operate satellites in orbit. The increasing number of players presents a new and challenging space security environment that demands new approaches.

Transparency and Confidence-Building in Outer Space: Inching Toward Action
Although concerns about the safety and security of humankind’s operations in outer space have been with us since the dawn of the space age in 1957, the past decade has seen a steady increase in attention to the issue at the multilateral level. How do we best coordinate international efforts?

How to Make Twitter Available in North  Korea
Devabhaktuni Srikrishna and Rajeev Krishnamoorthy write  about how citizens with wireless mesh-enabled smart phones  might overcome government censorship.