Space's Deepest Secrets (2016–…): Season 8, Episode 7 - Space Force Declassified - full transcript

For decades, world leaders

and military generals

have dreamed
of weaponizing space.

In December 2019

- the concept became reality.
- Thank you very much.

And the United States
Space Force

became the newest branch
of the military.

Two, one.

This sixth
branch of the military

would defend the vast
infrastructure of satellites,

currently orbiting largely
unprotected above Earth,



and be ready to attack
if they came under threat.

This is the story
of the race to build

the ultimate space weapon.

Arm and go.

Absolutely, a space-based
laser weapon system

is possible.

It is a dark,
mysterious,

and secretive world.

This is called
the, HackRF One.

A world
of clandestine projects,

secret rocket launches,

and futuristic tech.

It was shocking,
it was a wake-up call,

and I was stunned.



You can't hide in space.

Space is a more vulnerable place

than the Earth.

There's no doubt
that powerful space weapons

are coming.

The final frontier has become

the military's
newest battle zone.

Hi Parts Deleted By
DvX3M

Since the end
of the Cold War,

the US has enjoyed
unrivaled dominance in space,

but that authority
is quickly fading,

as technology advances

and more countries
have space capabilities,

the possibility
of a devastating space war

has never been greater.

Dr. Brian Weeden
is all too aware

of the increasing threat.

For nine years,
he served as an officer

in the US Air Force

including US Space Command.

My job while I was there,

I was working as what's
known as an orbital analyst,

and that is a person
who helps keep track

of where
all those satellites are.

Brian can pinpoint the day

everything changed in space.

January 11, 2007 was, um,

a very interesting day.

For US Space Command,
the day began as normal,

monitoring the satellites
in orbit

that helped society function.

There was nothing
of obvious concern.

It started as a normal day.

But then,
from a remote base

in Southern China,

a military missile was fired.

Within seconds,
US Space Command

detected the launch.

The US military has a system
of satellites

that are used to detect,
infrared signatures

mainly for big missiles
and rockets.

So when the launch happened,

within a relatively
short period of time,

we knew that something
had taken off,

a missile of some sort.

Space Command had
received prior intelligence

that China was developing
an anti-satellite weapon

and it seemed they were ready
for a test run.

The immediate question,

is it targeting
a certain satellite?

And of course,
you also have the humans

on the International
Space Station.

Traveling at more
than 20,000 miles per hour,

the missile reached
an altitude of 530 miles,

and then it struck.

There was kind
of a holy cow moment,

you know, "What just happened?"

One of the radar sites
that we used,

tracked basically was supposed
to be a satellite

and instead reported
hundreds of pieces of debris.

That was a pretty
shocking moment.

China had used
the missile to destroy

one of its own satellites.

It was the first successful test

of an anti-satellite weapon
in more than 20 years.

Washington was stunned.

General William Shelton
is a former head

of US Space Command.

It was shocking,

to say the least.

I can recall,

thinking that things
had just

drastically changed.

We had always thought
about space as being,

um, a peaceful sanctuary.

And for security
of the United States,

we had put, things
up there to,

maintain the peace
if you will.

Um, this was an offensive,
act

and the first offensive act,

by another nation.

So it was shocking,
it was a wake-up call,

and I was stunned.

The missile hadn't
just destroyed the satellite,

it turned the spacecraft
into a cloud of space junk.

What we're seeing here

is a computer animation

of all of the space debris

created by the 2007
China's anti-satellite test.

When that satellite
was destroyed,

it turns what was one object

into thousands of objects.

There's about 2,000
functional satellites

that are also orbiting
the Earth.

Many of them
in similar altitudes

to the space debris.

And so, as they are going
around the Earth,

there's a chance that one
of these pieces of debris

may come close
to or even collide

with one of those
active satellites.

The fallout was immense.

The Chinese had tested
a space weapon

and it proved to be
devastatingly effective.

It raised a terrifying question.

Could an attack on another
country's satellites

trigger the unimaginable,

a war in space?

We know that the Chinese
have also launched a missile

to geosynchronous orbit
as a demonstration.

All orbital regimes now
are threatened

by what the Chinese are doing.

- Okay.
- The US Military

could no longer take
its dominance of space

for granted.

Space was once again
a contested domain.

Range and rate, 0.71...

Today,
the space superpowers

are locked in a new arms race.

But ironically,

the most powerful
space weapon known today

was actually one of the first
to be created.

This weapon is so powerful,

it's been estimated
that it could wipe out

up to 90% of the satellites
in Low-Earth Orbit.

Yet it was discovered
almost by accident.

Dr. Greg Spriggs

is one of the few people
alive today

who witnessed the event.

Greg works as
a nuclear weapons physicist

at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory.

He spends much of his time
analyzing data

from past nuclear tests.

Many of which were conducted
down the road from Las Vegas.

So we're standing here
in the middle of Las Vegas,

about 70 miles in that direction

is the Nevada test site.

So the Nevada test site
was mostly our test area

for the United States.

They did about a thousand shots,

eight hundred underground shots,

and there were about
two hundred or so

above ground shots.

Here in Las Vegas,
they used to have parties.

They would announce when
the shot was gonna occur.

They didn't want it
to frighten anybody.

And then the hotels would try
to attract people

to come to their hotel
that they would have

nuclear bomb parties
on the roofs

or on their balconies
to go out and watch.

Tourists were drawn
by the iconic blast

and mushroom cloud,

but there was another
more mysterious effect

from the explosions.

An invisible burst
of intense energy

called an electromagnetic pulse.

There are four
major nuclear weapon effects.

The first effect
is the prompt radiation

that comes off
of the fission process.

The next effect
is the shockwave.

The next effect
is the thermal blast.

And the last effect is the EMP,

which is caused
from an electric current.

So all of this prompt
radiation that was emitted

from the bomb goes out, gets
absorbed in the atmosphere,

and causes a current.

And that current
then causes a change

in the electronic current
or magnetic field in that area

and you can disrupt
electronic equipment.

The electromagnetic
pulse effect

had the capability of damaging

electronic equipment

by frying circuit boards.

It was to inspire
the development

of what to this day remains

the most terrifying
space weapon ever discovered,

a nuclear explosion
in outer space.

This is what Greg witnessed
as a young boy in 1962.

My dad was in the Navy
for 20 years and this,

one particular picture
shows him being sworn in.

We moved about
every three or four years.

And in 1962,

he was stationed
on Midway Island.

Midway is a very small island,
only about two square miles

out in the middle
of the Pacific.

I was 11 years old at the time.

The test was given
the codename

"Starfish Prime."

The nuclear weapon
was to be launched

from Johnston Island,

approximately 930 miles

from Midway.

Greg, his family,
and about 2,000 others

gathered to watch a once
in a lifetime spectacle

as the US military
prepared to detonate

its first nuclear weapon
in space.

At 10:00 on July 9th, 1962,

a missile armed
with a nuclear warhead

launched from Johnston Island
into outer space.

Nuclear physicist, Greg Spriggs,

was just 11 years old,

but it was a sight
he'll never forget.

We were told
to look to the south

and as we're standing there,

of course,
the detonation went off,

and the entire sky lit up
like it was noon.

And it just didn't matter
which way you were looking,

it was very, very bright.

Newly declassified footage

shows the explosion 250 miles

above the Earth's surface.

It went through
all different kind of colors.

It went through reds,
and ultraviolets,

and blues, and greens.

And eventually,
in about 15 minutes or so,

it kind of died back
to being pitch-black again.

But it just really didn't
hit me until years later

when I was in,
graduate school,

and I didn't realize
what I had seen.

So it was a very historic test.

I don't think
we ever wanna repeat it.

But the effects
of the explosion

went far beyond
what scientists had expected.

From a ground station,
nestled in the mountains

of Andover, Maine,
a signal is sent

to a speeding satellite.

An historic feat that could
reshape man's future.

That satellite, of course,

is the Telstar, a hundred
and seventy pounds...

The day after
the Starfish Prime explosion,

NASA launched the world's first

communication satellite,
Telstar 1.

...future plans called...

The world marveled
as the satellite began

relaying television signals
across the Atlantic.

...in this age
of scientific miracles

so proudly...

Just seven months later,

Telstar stopped working.

Starfish Prime had claimed

its most famous victim.

In fact, about a third
of all satellites

then in space were destroyed

by mysterious after effects

of the explosion.

Scientists realized
that they had stumbled

upon a space weapon of
terrifying destructive power.

In 2001, the Pentagon modeled

how a modern day Starfish Prime

might affect modern life.

They predicted
that the explosion

would eventually cripple
all unprotected satellites

in Low-Earth Orbit,

turning them into scraps
of space junk.

I hope people
are smart enough

not to do that. I hope we've got

much more rational actors
in charge,

particularly the countries
that have nuclear weapons.

During the Cold War,

both the United States
and Soviet Union

carried out nuclear tests
in outer space.

Against this backdrop,

nations began to establish
space law.

Dr. Laura Grego
is an astrophysicist

who works for the Union
of Concerned Scientists.

It's called
the Outer Space Treaty,

signed in 1967.

For over half a century,

this international agreement

signed by the US,
Russia, and China

has governed
what the military can

and can't do in outer space.

Article IV is
where it gets really specific.

States Parties
to the Treaty undertake

not to place in orbit
around the Earth

any objects carrying
nuclear weapons

or any other kinds of weapons
of mass destruction,

install such weapons
on celestial bodies,

or station such weapons
in outer space.

Article IV forbids the placement

of nuclear weapons in space.

It doesn't forbid the detonation

of nuclear weapons in space.

The Partial
Test Ban Treaty of 1963

is what covers the detonation

of nuclear weapons in space.

So those two treaties
combine to have

a pretty strong protection
against nuclear detonations,

um, as anti-satellite weapon.

The treaty stresses

that any
extraterrestrial activity

should be peaceful.

While the treaty
does say that, um,

space should be used
for peaceful purposes

and no other state
should interfere

with other state's use of it
for peaceful purposes,

it doesn't specifically exclude

other types of weapons
besides, um,

weapons of mass destruction.

But nothing
in the treaty forbids

using space-based systems

to guide warfare here on Earth,

a loophole the US military
heavily utilizes.

From the commander-in-chief,

the president, on down

through the military
chain of command,

everyone is using
space capability these days

for military operations.

We are heavily dependent,
on space capability

for everything we do.

Engineer Frank Czopek
has spent a lifetime

working on satellite systems
for the US military.

And one in particular
that has been described

as the most important
in the world.

This satellite was built

for the global
positioning system

known today simply as GPS.

The major part
of any GPS satellite

is the 12, radiating horns

that you see up there,
that's what transmit

the GPS signals
down to the ground here.

But I also like
to point out to you,

there's a big white blob
sitting up there,

and that's a nuclear
detection payload.

That's really the reason
why GPS was built.

It was not for the navigation,
but it was for the white blob.

This crucial feature
allows the US to check

that other nations are complying

with the Test Ban Treaty.

Keep left.

But it's GPS's
3D navigation ability

that makes it arguably

the single most indispensable

global system ever designed.

Recalculating.

Used by an estimated
four billion people,

including the US military.

You have arrived
at your destination.

GPS provides navigation,

it provides timing capability,

it provides
geolocation capability.

It's just hard
to even to think of,

all the things
that are dependent on GPS,

because we just take
that service for granted.

First thing
that you got to understand

is that the GPS satellites
has no idea where you are.

It takes a GPS receiver
to figure out

where you are
on the face of the Earth.

How it does it is by listening
to timecoded signals

that are being transmitted
from the satellite.

A GPS device compares

the timecoded signals
it receives

from different satellites
in the sky.

It needs three satellite signals

to provide XYZ coordinates.

But the problem is,
is that that accuracy

is probably somewhere in
the order of tens of meters,

not very good for the things
that we do day-to-day.

So what to do to get
a more accurate solution,

you have to listen
to a fourth satellite.

And that's why
when they designed

the constellation,
they made sure

that anywhere
on the face of the Earth,

you have a minimum
of four satellites in view

at any given time.

The technology proved vital

in locating targets
and guiding troops

during the Gulf War.

Everybody
refers to Gulf War I

as the Gulf War.

It really in actuality
was the first space war.

The first time US military

flexed its space muscle.

GPS proved that space

is a frontier
worth fighting for.

A fact that still drives nations

working to develop
the next great space weapon.

China,
the United States, Russia,

and most recently India,

have all tested missiles

capable of destroying
satellites.

But the drawback of this weapon

is that it creates
a large amount

of orbital debris,

running the risk
of collateral damage

to their own satellites.

The leading edge
of anti-satellite technology

really is, um, the things
that are not destructive.

Um, and one
of those technologies

is a co-orbital
anti-satellite weapon.

The co-orbital
anti-satellite weapon

originated in Russia.

During the Cold War,
the Soviet Union

established a weapons program
called Istrebitel Sputnikov,

which translates
to satellite killer.

The concept was deadly simple.

To join the satellite in orbit,

and then once close enough,

detonate an explosive charge

to fire a cloud of shrapnel

towards the target.

The Russians carried out
many secret tests

of this weapon.

But with the collapse
of the Soviet Union,

it disappeared
into the shadows of history.

Now, decades later,

scientists are resurrecting
the concept,

not as a weapon,
but as a valuable solution

to a critical problem.

During the Cold War,

the Soviet Union was developing

a satellite killer
that could track and destroy

enemy spacecraft.

Now, German scientist,
Dr. Heike Benninghoff

is developing that same

co-orbital satellite technology

for a benign,
but important purpose,

solving the problem
of loose space junk.

We have incredible

number of satellites

which are no longer
operative today.

And the idea is that we build

a kind of service satellite,

um, which can remove
non-operative satellites

and, de-orbit them or, um,

a service satellite
can also extend

the lifetime of satellites

which, for example,
are out of fuel.

So, let me explain it to you.

Dr. Benninghoff
wants to build

a robot spacecraft
to refuel old satellites

and remove from orbit
those that can't be repaired.

This is the orbit of the target.

It would join
the satellite in orbit.

Then we end up
maybe somewhere here.

And then once close enough...

It captures the target.

This is more
than just an idea

on a piece of paper.

At the German Aerospace Center,

significant resources
have been invested

in developing
the technology required

to make Dr. Benninghoff's
dreams a reality.

This advanced program
regularly tests technology

that could, in the wrong hands,

make a powerful
new space weapon.

So we are now here
at the EPOS facility,

the European Proximity
Operation Simulator,

located here
at German Aerospace Center

in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

So the setup here
is that we have one robot

which simulates
the target satellite.

This is something like
a lost satellite

where we have no control
over it anymore,

but which, threatens
other satellite

in neighboring orbits.

And over here,
we have a service satellite.

The service satellite has all
the necessary intelligence

to do it without any human
interaction.

The only thing
is you send some commands

like start the approach
and then service satellite

will do nearly everything
in an autonomous way.

A suite of cameras
and sensors acts

as the spacecraft's eyes

and an on board computer,
its brain.

Together,
these enable the spacecraft

to auto navigate
and guide itself

towards the target.

But the spacecraft
would be nothing

without its robot arm.

Okay for flight?

Yes, go ahead.

Are you ready to start
with robotic operations?

Yes, of course.

Then you're authorized to do

these robotic events,
activities.

Once in its reach,

the spacecraft's robot arm
grabs the satellite.

Capture completed.

The spacecraft
can then carry out repairs

and refuel the satellite.

But this technology
designed for good

could be twisted and given
a much more sinister purpose.

Of course,
this technology

in the wrong hands
is always a problem

and always a danger.

The robot arm
could attack the satellite.

For example, by ripping off
its solar panels

so that it runs out of power.

The satellite killer reborn.

But the real concern
is that a satellite killer

is already prowling the skies.

We started to see,
beginning of 2013,

something interesting happening

with a series
of Russian space launches.

The first launch took place

with a powerful
Russian space launch vehicle,

the Rokot blasting into the sky.

According to the Russian
Ministry of Defense,

it carried three military
communication satellites.

They were launching triplets

of small military
communication satellites,

but they started noticing

there was,
often a fourth object.

According
to Russia's flight manifest,

only three satellites
should have been launched,

so Brian's team assumed
the fourth object

was inert launch debris.

But then, it started
to broadcast a radio signal.

This fourth object was
actually another satellite.

What US Space Command
had assumed

was a piece of space junk

was in fact
a secret Russian spacecraft,

code-named Kosmos 2491.

This ominous mystery
quickly doubled,

when, on March 31st 2015,

another rocket launched
from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

Again, it carried
three official satellites

and an undeclared fourth.

It broadcast the same signal,

and this time, it began to move.

It started doing maneuvers,

started changing its own orbit.

In 2015, US Space Command

watched with bated breath

as a clandestine
Russian satellite

began to move.

The spacecraft maneuvered
towards the rocket body

left over from the launch.

And then it struck.

Was this collision
intentional?

Could it be the first act
of a satellite killer

preparing to track and harm
enemy spacecraft?

We don't know
whether the Kosmos-2504

was intended to bump
into this rocket body,

but it was not the kind of bump

that I would say
is indicative of an attack.

If Brian is correct,
the Russian spacecraft

was not a satellite killer,
but a spy.

Designed to get up close

and snoop on other satellites.

In 2013, the Chinese military

launched a spacecraft
called Shiyan-7

equipped with a robotic arm.

They claimed it was space
maintenance technology.

As scientists continued
to develop new technologies

to serve as satellites
and eradicate space junk,

the US watches closely,

in case that harmless tech
turns combative.

When a country
like China or Russia

tests maneuvering satellites
in orbit,

the United States really gets
exercised about it

and really concerned,
because these are potentially

really useful weapons.

As we like
to say in the military,

the intent can change overnight.

If somebody decides
they're gonna go

to the dark side, so to speak,

then they can use it
for nefarious purposes.

The Outer Space
Treaty of 1967

has governed
what the military can

and can't do in space.

But it can't keep criminals
or rogue nations

from making trouble there.

And now, another arguably
more potent weapon

is becoming available.

This weapon can be deployed
without a rocket

or missile launch,

so the identity of the attacker

can remain a secret,

but it can still
reach satellites

in any orbit.

Dr. Greg Falco is an expert

in cyber security
for satellites.

Every satellite,
whatever its role in space,

needs to maintain contact
with the Earth.

And this makes them
intrinsically vulnerable

to what could be
the ultimate space weapon,

a cyber-attack.

Right now,
we're on Wallops Island

in Virginia and,

in front of us are a number
of satellite dishes,

that are communicating
with satellites

that are out in space.

These dishes here,
are the ground component

of what we call
our control system

or our ground stations.

A ground station
communicates with satellites

in space, delivering commands.

It is the brain
of the satellite system

and a natural target
for hackers.

When you hack into a satellite

or if you wanna hack
into a satellite,

you generally don't wanna go
for necessarily

what's up in space.

You want to try and control

what is controlling
the satellite in space.

You can do a lot of damage
if you have

full control and command
of the ground station.

Cyberweapon development

is one of the most sensitive

and closely guarded secrets

kept by nation states.

Very few cyber-attacks
on satellites are publicized.

But one documented incident
occurred in 2008.

Ground control stations

like the ones we're at here,

can track and trace

where different satellites
are in orbit.

One of those satellites
is Terra.

And Terra, right now,

if you take a look at my screen

is right above South America.

And it moves pretty quickly.

On December 18th, 1999,

NASA launched Terra.

It observes our planet's
land, water, and atmosphere

from a height
of more than 430 miles.

It's the flagship satellite

of NASA's
Earth observing system.

And its mission
is purely scientific.

But in 2008,
Terra was the target

of a sophisticated cyber-attack.

One of its ground stations
was hacked,

and for a short period of time,

the hacker
was in complete control

of the satellite.

The first time
it was hacked into,

the satellite was only broken
into for two minutes,

and command and control was
achieved for the satellite.

Um, and the second time
it was broken into

was for nine minutes.

And what that tells you
is that whoever broke in

the first time
found it interesting enough

to break in another time.

When a hacker broke
into NASA's satellite Terra

in 2008, they had full control

for a total of 11 minutes.

In principle,
they could have done

incredible damage
to the satellite.

When you have command
and control over a satellite,

you have full feature access

to all of the components
of the satellite.

Um, Terra has five sensors
on it,

and with those five sensors,

you can do some form
of surveillance.

I think
that's the most realistic

what the hackers were doing.

But Terra also has propulsion,

and hackers could have
taken that propulsion,

and moved the satellite
out of orbit.

They could have
also possibly changed

the directionality
of some of the sensors,

so that they're not being
able to send commands

or receive commands
in the proper way.

They could've even moved
how the satellite

is receiving energy
from the sun,

um, in terms
of the solar panels.

So there's a number of things
that could've happened.

Um, I think most likely
the surveillance

was the case, though.

Terra survived
the cyber-attack.

But other satellites
have not been so lucky.

So far, there have been
no publicized instances

of this type of cyber-attack
against military satellites.

We're in the United States

doing everything we can

to protect our ground stations.

Our defenses have to stay high,

our paranoia needs to stay high.

We need to continue to work

the cyber security problem.

As some focus
on cyber defense,

others are developing
another kind of weapon.

One that science fiction fans

have always thought
was destined for space.

In McKinney, Texas,

Evan Hunt has made it his goal

to bring laser weapons
to the battlefield.

Welcome to Raytheon
Space and Airborne Systems

here in McKinney, Texas.

Raytheon is a global Aerospace
and Defense Company

with locations around the world.

We work with those locations
to integrate radars

and sensors that we produce here

into military systems

that are deployed by the US

and it's coalition partners.

My area of expertise
is high-energy lasers

and that's a very
exciting field,

because for many, many decades,

the US Department of Defense
and its allies

has been working
on this new technology,

trying to transition it out
of the lab.

And today,
I'm pleased to show you

how we're doing that
here in McKinney,

taking lasers
and moving them into systems

that are gonna work
for the warfighter

in near term.

The concept
of a laser weapon is simple.

A laser produces
a powerful beam of light.

This beam is focused
onto the target,

heating it to a high temperature

until it ultimately melts.

We are here in our,

fiber laser source lab.

This is actually
the optical bench

which we use to test the laser

that goes into the,

high-energy laser weapon system.

High-energy laser
weapon systems require

very high power
and they also require

a very good beam quality

in order to affect targets
at long range.

Really neat things
about high-energy lasers

is they operate at one micron,

which means
they are completely invisible

to the naked eye.

The only time
you actually see the laser

is if you're looking
in the infrared,

um, with a special camera

and you can actually see
the heat signature

that's created on the target
you're pointing at.

Raytheon's
prototype laser weapon system

is designed
to shoot down drones.

So Sparky, our drone pilot

is actually launching
the drone right now.

So you'll see as I move
the controller,

the multi-special
targeting sensor

actually slews

in the direction of the drone.

But when I have optical track,
it's hands off.

That drone can maneuver
up and down,

in and out of clutter
at pretty significant speeds.

And at any time,
I can press a button,

fire the laser,

and an invisible
instantaneous beam of light

will start burning a hole
in the target.

This prototype
could be a stepping stone

to more powerful laser weapons

with greater capabilities.

They may even, in the future,

have the capacity
to threaten spacecraft.

Today's laser weapon
technology

is rapidly advancing

and it has huge implications

for the future of combat
in space.

We've shot down over 90 drones,

at multiple exercises

for the US Air Force
and the army.

This particular video,
for example,

is engaging a rotor craft done.

The second you fire
that laser beam,

you're engaging the target,

you're seeing pieces
and parts fall off it,

and the drone falls out
of the sky.

Laser energy has the potential

to propagate
a very, very long way,

potentially harm
airborne targets

or even spaceborne targets
such as satellites.

We've actually worked
with the laser clearing house,

which is a government entity
which essentially allows us

to download information,
which shows

where satellites may be flying.

So there's no chance
that we could ever fire

on the path
of a potential satellite.

Satellites with lasers

already exist in space

such as NASA's
ICESat-2 Satellite

which uses a laser
to measure the thickness

of sea ice in Antarctica.

And the European Aeolus,

which maps global wind patterns.

But a space-based laser
that can damage a satellite

is still out of reach
at least for now.

There's a lot of, um,
smoke and mirrors around

who's doing what
and how hard it is.

The newer technologies
that are being investigated

are solid state lasers
which, um,

that are powered
with electrical power.

But you still need to generate
that power,

you don't create power
from nothing.

There are real science,

physics, engineering challenges

to get a powerful enough laser
on a satellite

to be destructive.

And creating energy in space

is much more difficult
than it is on the ground.

Ground-based lasers,
those are the ones

that give me the most concern.

And I think laser technology
in general

has come a long way
in just a few years.

So, I don't think
it's probably that many years

before ground-based lasers
is gonna be something

we're gonna have to deal with.

It appears
increasingly likely

that new powerful space weapons

will soon be in orbit
around Earth.

The risk of military conflict
in space

and all out space war

has never been greater.

There's two big concerns.

One is there's a conflict
on Earth

that extends into space.

The other is something
that happens in space

that could spark conflict
on the Earth.

The major space powers

are also nuclear powers.

So anything
that provides pathways

to escalation
between nuclear powers,

I think it's particularly
dangerous.

I believe
everything the United States

is doing ought to be framed

in the sense of deterrence.

If we get to the place

where we're in
a Star Wars mentality,

so to speak, um,

I think we've failed
as mankind.

For Earth's
military space forces,

the story
is only just beginning.