Space Based Weapons Bun Fight: Senate NFIRE Proposal

U.S. Senate appropriators have approved language that could reignite a debate over developing and fielding space-based weapons.

The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC), which recently finished its version of the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill, has proposed reviving the Missile Defense Agency's canceled plans for adding a kill vehicle to the Near Field InfraRed (NFIRE) satellite. The NFIRE satellite is designed to track launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles to increase understanding about how hostile missiles perform early in flight.

MDA stopped pursuing the kill vehicle amid objections from congressional authorizers concerned that the device might collide with a missile and fuel perceptions that the United States is weaponizing space. But in its report on the bill, the SAC told MDA to finish developing the kill vehicle and integrate it onto the NFIRE satellite, saying the kill vehicle could provide "critical" risk reduction for developing missile defense interceptors.

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"This starts that whole food fight again," said Theresa Hitchens, director of the World Security Institute's Center for Defense Information.

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It's interesting that it is the Senate instead of the House that's arguing for this. That would imply a pretty big shift in thinking on the Hill.