Stopping the Arms Race in Outer Space

The militarization of outer space has been accelerating in recent years and is likely to reach a climax sometime during the second half of this decade. The advent of spacebased weapon systems is particularly disquieting and a consequence of such a development will be an increasing risk for triggering — either accidentally or intentionally — a nuclear war. Existing arms control treaties, like the ABM treaty, appear to offer a gradually diminishing protection against this growing military buildup and a special effort will be needed to stop the trend.