U.K. Report Finds Emerging Threats In Space

U.K. Report Finds Emerging Threats In Space

(NSI News Source Info) September 15, 2008: Disruptive technologies such as directed energy weapons and the use of electro-magnetic pulse are being identified as "emerging issues" for space security in a key U.K. industry report. British space industry lobby group U.K. Space will formally launch its "Space Secures Prosperity" report Sept. 16. The study is intended to highlight the extent to which the U.K. is dependent on space systems to support its military and security capabilities. Many of these systems, the report stresses, are foreign. U.K. industry wants to see the government step up its investment in military space. In examining potential emerging threats to space infrastructure the report notes: "Disruptive technologies -- including electromagnetic pulse and directed energy weapons -- will continue to be developed and proliferate, with implications for the protection of vehicles, ground stations, and data-streams." It goes on to add: "It is feasible that illegal organizations will seek to disrupt states ability to exploitýýý the use of space by threatening not only the ground stations themselves, but also the communications links between them and their satellites."