Now an arms race in space?

The research, development and tests in this direction were completed by Clinton administration in the last few years.

Rumsfeld, the Washington Post wrote, "is a leading proponent not only of national missile defence, but also of US efforts to take control of outer space by developing technology to attack and defend satellites in orbit.

The initiatives could bring a dramatic militarisation of space over the next two decades, a prospect that some defence experts have long urged.

The system that the Clinton administration was developing to protect the 50 States from ballistic missile attack would have been strictly land-based, with interceptor missiles launched from Alaska. It was to include some satellites for tracking enemy missiles, but no weapons based in space.

Bush on the other hand says that his administration will drive for a far more ambitious shield, possibly using space-based weaponry.

Rumsfeld had said that "defence of our space assets" is one of his top priorities.

The Outer Space Treaty, signed by US and other major powers in 1967, prohibits placing nuclear weapons in orbit.

The 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which Bush wants to change or discard, outlaws space-based lasers to attack strategic inter-continental missiles, and a side agreement signed in 1997 in Helsinki carries that concept over to theatre missiles.

However, in all treaties signed by the US, there is a provision for getting out of it if "supreme national interest" demands.

As early as in the 1980s, scientists were also considering so-called space mines-satellites containing explosives that could be placed in orbit, manoeuvred and detonated from earth.

Air Force General Ralph E. Eberhart, head of the US Space Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last spring that "the dependence of our national security on orbiting satellites" makes them vulnerable to terrorism and adversarial military operations."

"We are going to have to protect our assets in space,"Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael E. Ryan said. "In the next 25 years, I see US moving into a substantial defensive requirement in space." he added.

Meanwhile, the prospect of an arms race in space boosted a new Congressional Commission has evoked mixed reactions.

"It is inevitable, the combination of missile defences and America’s growing dependency on satellites means space is no longer a sanctuary, and is too central that we won’t be challenged by other countries developing anti-satellite weapons," said Richard Haass, National Security Council staff member under the first Bush administration and head of National security programmes.

Bruce Blair, head of the non-profit Centre for Defence Information, said Pentagon was using national missile defence as a weapon to accelerate activities in space.

Russia and China had strongly opposed United State’s National Defence Programme and the new development would be viewed by these countries as carrying the programme forward to a new space arms race.

Sha Zukang, the outspoken head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s disarmament department, said in June: "If the United States builds a missile shield, space will become a new weapons base and battlefield. Since other big powers will not sit and look on unconcerned, this will inevitably mean the extension of the arms race into space."

Bill Clinton had hailed China’s assumed "positive influence" in South Asia and termed it a "strategic ally." The Bush camp which views China as a competitor is taking steps to strengthen the military even if it means annoying the Chinese.