Missiles & Space

  • Examining North Korea's launch vehicle

    David Wright of the Ploughshares-funded Union of Concerned Scientists provides expert insight into the launch vehicle for North Korea’s upcoming missile launch, though &

    March 24, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • New analysis of miltary spending shows discord with space policy

    Although the Obama administration promises to "restore American leadership on space issues, seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites," a soon-to-be-released analysis by

    March 17, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • Reports question U.S. missile shield in Europe

    The proposed U.S. missile defense system in Europe would cost billions and still may fail.

    March 15, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • Snake Oil and Missile Defense

    by Alexandra Bell and Ben Loehrke of the Ploughshares Fund

    Missile defense is on the chopping block.  Carried through the Bush years by obsessive theology and highly staged tests, the new administration is now insisting that the weapons prove their effectiveness, affordability and necessity.

    March 13, 2009 - By Alexandra Bell

  • Space junk poses high risk

    The Union of Concerned Scientists' David Wright explains why a grapefruit-sized piece of debris caused NASA to evacuate the International Space Station. 

    March 12, 2009 - By Deborah Bain

  • North Korea sets date to launch satellite

    North Korea gave notice it will launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and April 8. However, some intelligence agencies see the widely anticipated launch as a cover for a test of its longest-range missile, banned by the UN.

    March 12, 2009 - By Anonymous

  • Defensible Missile Defense

    by Theodore Postol, Cambridge, MA

    In his recent letter to President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia, President Obama offered to modify the previous administration’s plans for a missile defense system in Europe. He was right to do so. A continued impasse with Russia might have prevented future arms reductions, created divisions with our European allies, done irreparable harm at the 2010 review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and impaired efforts to deal with Iran’s growing potential to become a nuclear weapons state.

    March 11, 2009 - By Anonymous

  • Obama urged to drop missile shield

    The Ploughshares-funded Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) urges President Obama to reverse Bush administration plans to locate parts of the U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

    March 4, 2009 - By Anonymous

  • North Korea puts launch in innocuous terms

    North Korea announced its intention to launch a ‘communications satellite’, downplaying its suspected plans to test a long-range ballistic missile test despite a U.N. resolution forbidding such activity.  Experts fear an attempt by the U.S.

    February 23, 2009 - By Anonymous

  • Twisted History: False Claims of Bush's Success on WMD

    co-authored by Alexandra Bell

    The victors write history. Few would ascribe that right to the outgoing Bush Administration. The "Highlights of Accomplishments and Results of the Administration of George W. Bush" is fifty pages of glossy photos and false claims of the last eight years, complete with "Did You Know" sections usually seen in 8th grade textbooks.

    February 21, 2009 - By Joe Cirincione