Abstract
The increasing use of outer space for military purposes has played, and will continue to play, a very important and increasingly complex role in international relations,especially in arms control affairs. For example, recent advanced in ballistic missile defence (BMD) technologies, particularly some proposed space-based systems, would not only fuel the arms race on earth but even extend it to outer space. To say that the race for anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons had already started in the late 1950s would not be an exaggeration. With the deployment of the US land-based ASAT missiles and their nuclear warheads, the ASAT weapon race had already begun. The next to appear on the scene were the Soviet ASAT satellites. While they were crude weapons, they were an improvement on the US indiscriminate nuclear-tipped ASAT missiles. On 21 January 1984, the USA carried out a test of its air-launched ASAT missile which eventually will be fitted with a non-nuclear warhead. Thus, with the relative flexibility of this new ASAT system, a further impetus has been given to the arms race in this field.
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© 1985 Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
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Jasani, B. (1985). Restricting Anti-satellite Technology. In: Rotblat, J., Hellman, S. (eds) Nuclear Strategy and World Security. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17878-0_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17878-0_13
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