Some would argue that the space program is some wonderful pursuit that we should all support. But I would argue that it is an integral part of the military industry executives in this administration's desire to militarize space.
In September 2000, the PNAC drafted a report entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century."
http://manifestor.org/imperium/archive/PNAC.html The conservative foundation- funded report was authored by Bill Kristol, Bruce Jackson, Gary Schmitt, John Bolton and others. Bolton, ambassasor-appointed, was Senior Vice President of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
The report called for: ". . . significant, separate allocation of forces and budgetary resources over the next two decades for missile defense," and claimed that despite the "residue of investments first made in the mid- and late 1980s, over the past decade, the pace of innovation within the Pentagon had slowed measurably." Also that, "without the driving challenge of the Soviet military threat, efforts at innovation had lacked urgency."
The PNAC report asserted that "while long-range precision strikes will certainly play an increasingly large role in U.S. military operations, American forces must remain deployed abroad, in large numbers for decades and that U.S. forces will continue to operate many, if not most, of today's weapons systems for a decade or more."
The PNAC document encouraged the military to "develop and deploy global missile defenses to defend the American homeland and American allies, and to provide a secure basis for U.S. power projection around the world."
You can hear the pitch of former Lockheed executive Bruce Jackson, hawking in favor of his company's space weaponry:
-Control the new ‘International commons' of space and cyberspace, and pave the way for the creation of a new military service with the mission of space control. (U.S. Space Forces; eventually realized in the form of the Air Force-financed Lockheed Space Battle Lab)
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-03z.html-Exploit the "revolution" in military space affairs to insure the long-term superiority of U.S. conventional forces.
-Establish a two-stage transformation process which maximizes the value of current weapons systems through the application of advanced technologies.
The biggest threat to the World community is the proliferation of WMDs here in the U.S., facilitated by a nest of former military-industrial executives (military-industrial warriors) and shareholders in the Defense department and throughout the Bush administration.
With the new money appropriated for homeland defense ($38 billion for FY 2003), virtually all of the big defense contractors — Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon have started hawking their products for use in domestic security.
In order to replace weapons used in Afghanistan, and in concert with the military conflict in Iraq, most U.S. weapons makers have increased production. Bombs are big business again and the Bush administration has opened the candy store, exporting death, conquest, and perpetual war.
With a share of 24% of U.S. arms exports, Lockheed-Martin is the world's largest arms exporting company. Lockheed leads the pack of defense contractors who do business with the U.S. with valuable Pentagon contracts worth a total of nearly $30 billion and an advertised $70 billion backlog.
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=12923&sc=400 Lockheed has 125,000 employees in the United States and overseas with 939 facilities in 457 cities and 45 states throughout the U.S.; internationally, with business locations in 56 nations and territories.
Lockheed leads the defense industry in lobbying expenditures. Lockheed Martin made over $10.6 million in campaign contributions to candidates and party committees from 1990 to 2000, including $3.4 million in donations in the run-up to the year 2000 elections.
http://worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/updates/051603.htmlProducts / Services
* AN/APS-145 Advanced Early Warning Airborne Surveillance Radar
* Antennas and Ground Stations
* Astrobiology
* Diversified Programs Operation (DPO)
* Earth Observation Satellite EOS AM-1 (Terra)
* Flight Payloads Integration
* Fundamental Biology
* Ground Research Facilities
* Heat Rejection Radiators
* John Karas Testimony on Future Launch Options For Space Exploration, May 5, 2004
* Life Sciences Research
* Michoud Operations
* Mobile User Objective System
* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
* Range Standardization and Automation II
* Satellite Communications Services
* Solar Array Flight Experiment (SAFE)
* Space Mission Engineering
* Space Shuttle Thermal Protection
* Space Station Biological Research Project
* Technology Development
* Thermal Protection
The company actively lobbies for the need to retain substantial numbers of existing nuclear weapons while developing new ones. Lockheed Martin receives more than $1 billion per year from the Department of Energy - to operate the Sandia National Laboratories (involved in the design and production of nuclear warheads) and help run the Nevada Test Site for "sub-critical testing" of new nuclear weapons designs.
http://actagainstwar.org/downloads/LMflyer2page.pdfThe Arms Trade Resource Center, reported that 80% of Lockheed's business is with the Department of Defense and other federal government agencies. It is also the largest provider of information technology services, systems integration, and training to the U.S. government. Such business has grown substantially during the Bush tenure, especially in fiscal year 2002 as plans for war were formulated.
http://worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/links.html The ATRC report calculates that Lockheed was awarded $17 billion in defense contracts in 2002, up from $14.7 billion in 2001. First quarter sales for 2003 were $7.1 billion, an 18% increase from the corresponding quarter in 2002.
Sales by customer in 2004:
U.S. Department of Defense/Intelligence - 58%
Civil Government/Homeland Security - 22%
International - 17%
Commercial Domestic - 3%
But some would argue me down that their work is just a benign search for knowledge of space.
58% U.S. Department of Defense/Intelligence
22% Civil Government/Homeland Security
Those are the facts. Their mission is primarily military. You can't easily separate the military meddling from the seemingly benign missions that some so strongly support. Until we do the space program will always be part and parcel of a drive by this cabal to militarize space.
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