AS IF on cue, as Star Wars: Episode III opened in cinemas across the US, opponents of real-life war in space last week accused the Bush administration of pushing hard for a range of space-based weapons.
At a press briefing on 19 May, David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists argued against space weapons. “It makes it difficult [to pursue] the things space is uniquely suited for, such as communications, navigation and exploration,” he says.
Since 2001, when defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged the US air force to consider space-based weapons, the Pentagon has funded a range of programmes.…
