We have been warned.

From The Washington Post:

The Chinese military used a ground-based missile to hit and destroy one of its aging satellites orbiting more than 500 miles in space last week -- a high-stakes test demonstrating China's ability to target regions of space that are home to U.S. spy satellites and space-based missile defense systems.

The test of anti-satellite technology is believed to be the first of its kind in two decades by any nation and raised concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. satellites and a possible arms race in space.

China's action drew sharp protests from other nations with satellite programs -- a predictable response that experts said dramatically illustrates Chinese willingness to face broad international criticism when it comes to space, which Beijing considers a key part of the push to modernize its military and increase its ability to compete in high-tech warfare.

The Chinese know that the nation which controls orbital space can rule the world. And make no mistake about it the Chinese have the goal of replacing the United States as the world's only true superpower.

There is not a weapon which can be deployed on the surface of the earth or in earth's atmosphere which cannot be neutralized by a space based weapon, and that includes the individual infantryman.

The Chinese intend to control orbital space and they will do whatever they need to to accomplish that. If they first deny low earth orbit to other nations then they can assemble their own military infrastructure in orbit at their leisure. If they succeed in doing this then the US might as well sell its carrier battle groups for scrap. Our submarines would be a little more survivable, but even a submerged object can be located from orbit.

Western Europe is useless. They would probably prefer to make a deal with an omnipotent China as long as it meant that the US was rendered impotent in World affairs. If the US is going to survive, let alone retain its place in the world, we need to abandon the delusion that space can retain its character as a demilitarized zone of peaceful cooperation.

That fantasy could survive when the only two nations which had the capacity to launch heavy objects into space were the US and the USSR because the US would honor agreements not to militarize space and the USSR lacked the money and the technological sophistication to build an effective orbital weapons system. For them entering into an agreement with the US on space-based weapons was worthwhile because it neutralized a significant American advantage.

For the US an agreement not to weaponize space was desirable because it freed up billions of dollars which could be used to buy votes through social programs.

That dynamic does not apply to China. The Chinese are flush with cash because they have abandoned economic Marxism and they are willing to spend as much of that cash as they need to to obtain the technology which they need to fulfill their ambitions. They have bought technology from Western firms, they have used espionoge to steal technology from Western governments, they have bribed an American president to obtain nuclear technology, they will fund any amount of R&D to develop technology. When they have the technology they will then use it.

America needs to wake up and start claiming the high frontier. If we will not we will soon find that we can not.