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It appears that the space race of the 1960s is anything but over. In recent years, China has taken steps to increase its military space capabilities. And just this week, China launched a lunar orbiter, under the pretense that it will be used for peaceful, civil purposes. Others claim that the launch provides China an opportunity to test new space weapons. Despite mixed signals about the purposes of the launch, one thing is for sure: the rest of the world better be prepared to protect their own space assets. Cell phones, GPS, broadcast television, spy satellites - all of these depend on space infrastructure, and we depend on them for our basic, everyday needs.

In 2003, China became the first Asian nation to develop its own rocket, and used it to send an astronaut to space. In January, the Chinese used a medium-range ballistic missile to shoot down a weather satellite that had been in orbit since 1999. China did not give notice of its intention to use space weapons, and afterward the Chinese government refused to confirm or deny the launch of the missile and the destruction of the satellite.

This week, China launched it's first lunar orbiter for a year long mission to "explore the moon". The nation hopes to send a man to the moon by 2020. However, according to some human rights groups, the purpose of the lunar orbiter isn't for peaceful purposes at all, instead, they claim it is part of China's space militarization program. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy claims that a nuclear-powered submarine will be sending messages to maneuver the satellite from Earth. According to the group, "once the satellite-maneuvering technology matures...China would have the know-how to destroy other satellites in space in wartime. China could launch cheaply-made weapon-carrying objects into space and change their courses to destroy or damage satellites of other countries by sending signals from submarines..."

If China ever becomes capable of destroying our satellites, the United States, and other nations around the world, must prepare to lose some, if not all, television, radio, telephone, and cell phone communications, not to mention the possibility of losing our military satellites. There is no simple solution for dealing with China's space militarization program. But one thing is for sure, we may not be able to ignore it much longer.