The link connets to Space.com’s “Top Ten” pages, which has the “Top Ten Space Weapons.”

Sounds liek a bit of false advertising on CSM’s part, but the Space.com writer’s do try to titillate:

Weapons in space may seem like science fiction, but they’ve been creeping ever closer toward science fact. The U.S. may have proposed a space weapon ban, but others are actively researching military strength in the high frontier. Here’s a look at 10 nasty ways warfare may reach space.

The X-37B, A U.S. Air Force space raises concerns about weapons in space. While its exact purpose remains unclear, it joins a host of new space technology that could usher in a new era of space warfare.

This undated file image released by the U.S. Air Force shows the X-37B spacecraft, an unmanned space plane. The Pentagon's forays into earth's orbit have raised concerns about space warfare.

It’s not as if things aren’t bad enough right here on planet earth. What with multiple wars and occupations, an accelerating economic meltdown, corporate malfeasance and environmental catastrophes such as the petroleum-fueled apocalypse in the Gulf of Mexico, I’d say we have a full plate already.

Now the Defense Department wants to up the stakes with new, destabilizing weapons systems that will transform low- and high-earth orbit into another “battlespace,” pouring billions into programs to achieve what Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has long dreamed of: “space dominance.”

Indeed, Pentagon space warriors fully intend to field a robust anti-satellite (ASAT) capability that can disable, damage or destroy the satellites of other nations, all for “defensive” purposes, mind you.

That’s the set-up, and Burghardt highlights one of my favorite Lance Lord quotes:

Back in 2005, The New York Times reported that General Lance W. Lord, then commander of AFSPC, told an Air Force conference that “space superiority is not our birthright, but it is our destiny. … Space superiority is our day-to-day mission. Space supremacy is our vision for the future.”

Of course, I only saw this because I was ego-surfing on Google (see crass self-promotion). I got a kick out of how an accurate quote of mine is intermixed with an opinion on Area 51 (somethign I did not do but am looking forward to the web hits it will generate):

This view is shared by Everett Dolman, a professor of Comparative Military Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at the Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

“Regardless of its original intent, Dolman told Space.com, “the most obvious and formidable is in service as a space fighter–a remotely piloted craft capable of disabling multiple satellites in orbit on a single mission and staying on orbit for months to engage newly orbited platforms.” A project such as the X-37B, more advanced systems still on the drawing-board or in development in any number of Air Force black sites such as Groom Lake (Area 51) “would be a tremendous tactical advantage,” Dolman said.

Even were the system not to be transformed into a space bomber, Dolman theorized that the X-37B could be maneuvered close to an adversary’s satellite and capture details in the form of signals intelligence. “With the anticipated increase in networked-microsatellites in the next few years, such a platform might be the best–and only–means of collecting technical intelligence in space.”

The italics are mine, in the excerpt above, if not the words or sentiment.

From Asia Times, “US Robotic Shuttle Spooks Iran.”

Methinks he doth protest too much.

First reported by Leonard Davies in Space News, it was picked up by MSNBC :

Deutsch told the committee that satellite programs managed by the Air Force, which is the Defense executive agent for space, tend to shortchange Navy requirements and missions. “Without active Navy involvement today in ongoing deliberations over future satellite programs, the Navy risks operating in future scenarios with multibillion-dollar National Security Space systems suboptimized for the maritime environment, which is increasingly important as maritime domain awareness requirements are developed.”He told the hearing that “due to the long lead times involved, it is therefore critical that naval requirements and maritime missions be factored into the pre-launch design and planned in-orbit operation of all future satellite systems being considered for acquisition through the DoD executive agent for space..”