From Ami Silberman:
"Stuf4" wrote
snip
As far as "populating" in orbit, I was referring specifically here to
the constellation of GPS satellites that tie in to nuclear subs,
nuclear bombers, and GPS bombs themselves.

Which are in no way prohibited by the UN treaty, since they are not
conducting maneuvers on a celestial body, nor interfering with other
nation's use of space, nor are they weapons, nor conducting weapons tests.

snip
Yes, I see those as examples of space being militarized. Satcom gives
direct link to SIOP forces. WX sats give indirect link.

But those are not prohibited by the UN Treaty. To my mind, they are military
uses for space, but not militarization of space. There is a subtle
difference.

snip
You might want to consider the fact that satcom was designed as a
backup means for transmitting the Emergency War Order for the SIOP
(though I'm sure that SAC crews were hoping to get an Emergency Action
Message that recalled them).

As far as weather sats, they were not funded so that the president
could plan a vacation in Moscow. The data they provided was used in
strategic offensive plans.

Right, but their use in space was permitted.

I agree with all of your points here.

I was not saying that the US violated the Outer Space Treaty. My
point was that the US has militarized space. Many people are not
aware of that fact.


~ CT