The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is a system proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear missiles. It was first dubbed "Star Wars" by opponent Dr. Carol Rosin, a former spokesperson of Wernher von Braun who was instrumental in the development of ballistic missiles. Some critics used that term implying it is an impractical science fiction fantasy, but supporters have adopted the usage as well on the grounds that yesterday's science fiction is often tomorrow's engineering. Supporters of SDI hail it for contributing to or at least accelerating the fall of the Soviet Union by the strategy of technology, which was a prevalent doctrine at the time. Opponents of the program say that Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms were the cause of the USSR's collapse and that SDI is an unrealistic and expensive program.

Project and proposals

The proposal was sharply criticized for its potential costs, doubts that it would be technologically feasible and afford complete protection against all delivery systems, concerns that it would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and the Outer Space Treaty and destabilize the [[[ == [[Image:nuclear] ==]]] balance of power.

The research was controlled by the Strategic Defense Initiative Office, an agency of the Department of Defense until 1993, when it was renamed the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. Department of Defense cost estimates for SDI-related spending during fiscal years 1984-1994 amounted to US$32.6 billion. An independent report by the Congressional Research Service arrived at a much higher figure of US$70.7 billion [1].

The project was repeatedly scaled back, renamed Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS, dubbed "Son of Star Wars") in 1991, and refocused on protection from smaller attacks. GPALS was based on a ground system of rocket-launched interceptors aimed at preventing small scale launches by "rogue states" (apparently North Korea, Libya, Iraq or Iran) from impacting on the U.S.

President Bill Clinton almost halted the program, but it has regained momentum under President George W. Bush, whose version is called the National Missile Defense (NMD).

See also

• National Missile Defense
• Anti-satellite weapons

External links

• Chinese Threat to American Leadership in Space
• Enenstein, "US3427611", Feb., 1969 (Laser System)
• Missile Wars - A PBS Frontline report.
• The Militarization of Science and Space - Commentary and analysis by NMD critic Noam Chomsky.
• Sidereum Spolium