In this report, Bruce W. MacDonald illuminates the strategic landscape of military space competition between the United States and China and highlights the dangers and opportunities the United States confronts in space.

Charles D. Ferguson and Bruce W. MacDonald argue that by demonstrating its anti-satellite capability, the U.S. “was stepping briefly across a dangerous threshold, undercutting American and international criticism of China and threatening an arms race in space.”

The panelists will discuss the October 4, 1957 launching of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik, its impact on the Cold War, and its role in propelling the Information Age.

Matthew Brzezinski, an author and former Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, and Roger D. Lanius, a space historian at the Smithsonian Institute, discuss the legacy of Sputnik fifty years after the Soviet satellite’s launch.

China's anti-satellite test in January drew international condemnation but also piqued interest in some quarters about instituting a space weapons ban.

Throughout the past decade, space has become increasingly important to all aspects of American life. The information revolution now transforming both private activity and global commerce depends to a very large extent on communication, remote sensing, and navigation satellites. Likewise, space has become vitally important to the American military. During the 1991 Gulf War, the victorious coalition forces relied heavily upon the “high ground” of space to support land, sea, and air operations. We can expect the same to continue in future conflicts.

In this monograph, Military Fellow Colonel Frank Klotz provides a timely and thorough analysis of the emerging debate. With an eye to recent developments and potential future competition regarding the Earth’s orbit, Klotz provides a compelling argument for sustaining U.S. pre-eminence in space in order to promote and protect growing American interests there.