AUT: space action

["Neil Gordon" <practicalhistory@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Report of June 18th 1999 action against militarisation of space

As a contribution to the J18 global carnival (see www.J18.org ) ten people
headed for the London headquarters of the Lockheed Martin Corporation in
Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square for an action against the
militarisation of space. Lockheed Martin are involved in weapons production
(including Trident Missiles) and space programmes including the Space
Shuttle and the International Space Station. They are also contractors to
the US Military's Ballistic Missile Defence programme which is considering
putting weapons into space.

Police followed us from the meeting point and prevented several people
dressed in space suits from entering the building (an incident broadcast
live via mobile phone on Radio Scotland), but a statement was handed in
demanding that they cease weapons production and give their resources to the
Association of Autonomous Astronauts for the development of peaceful,
community-based, galaxy-friendly space exploration. A line formed outside
with placards saying Stop Star Wars - Military Out of Space and leaflets
were given out to passers by including people working in the same building
as the LM office. On the same day LM announced that they had lost millions
of dollars because of a typing error in a military contract, although we are
not sure if this was a direct consequence of our action!

Text of leaflet follows:

Stop Star Wars - military out of space

While film fans wait for the new Star Wars movie the real thing is already
taking shape above our heads. Space technology is a key part of the military
machine recently used to destroy people and buildings in Yugoslavia and
Iraq. And the US and other governments are actively planning to deploy new
weapons in space. Today the Association of Autonomous Astronauts are
demanding that one of the key players in the space arms race - the Lockheed
Martin corporation - hands over its resources to us for the development of
peaceful, galaxy-friendly community based space exploration.

>From the Blitz to the Moon

Space and military technology have always gone hand in hand. In the Second
World War, thousands of people were killed in London and other cities by the
Nazis? V2 rocket. After the war, the scientists responsible for the V2 were
given new jobs by the US government. The V2 technology was refined and
served as the basis for both Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (nuclear
weapons) and the Apollo Space programme that sent people to the moon.

Today a high proportion of the satellites launched into space serve military
purposes. Data from surveillance, meteorological and communications
satellites was used to detect targets and guide weapons in the Gulf War and
in Yugoslavia. Naturally this super-accurate space age technology didn?t
stop people being blown to bits in hospitals, houses, prisons and on
bridges.

Star Wars - the sequel

Military satellites are only the start. The US Space Command (part of the US
Air Force) is actively planning the deployment of weapons in space.
According to General Joseph Ashy, commander in chief of the US Space Command
(motto ?Master of Space?), ?we will engage terrestial targets someday from
space. We will engage targets in space, from space?.

In the 1980s Ronald Reagan?s Star Wars programme was derided as a Cold War
fantasy. Now the plan to deploy weapons in space to ?defend? the US from
missile attack is back on with the Ballistic Missile Defence programme.
These 'defensive' weapons could also be used to attack enemy satellites or
targets on the ground.

Cassini - nukes in space

The use of lasers and similar weapons in space would only be feasible with
powerful energy sources, and public opinion is already being softened up for
nuclear power in space. In 1997 NASA launched the Cassini space probe to
Saturn with 32.8 kg of radioactive plutonium on board. Fortunately this
rocket did not blow up on take-off (unlike many recent launches), but
Cassini is due to pass close to earth again in August 1999 with potentially
catastrophic results if anything goes wrong.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Today military and space technology are concentrated in the hands of the
same big corporations. With Lockheed Martin, the two areas are even
co-ordinated in the same section of the company - Lockheed Martin Missiles
and Space, based in Sunnyvale, California. LM are involved in the space
shuttle programme and the development of the International Space Station. At
the same time they are continuing to develop Trident nuclear missiles, and
are contractors to the Ballistic Missile Defence programme. Lockheed Martin
UK is a major contractor for the Ministry of Defence.

Association of Autonomous Astronauts

The Association of Autonomous Astronauts is opposed to the commercial and
military exploitation of space. We really don?t think it?s worth going
through all the effort of getting into space just to live by the same rules
as on earth. What attracts us to space exploration is the possibility of
doing things differently. We are not interested in finding out what's its
like to work in space, to find new ways of killing. We want to find out what
dancing or sex feels like in zero gravity, to find new ways of living.

As part of the J18 global festival against corporate exploitation we demand
that Lockheed Martin  decommissions its weapon-making capability and hands
over its resources to the AAA. We will be outlining our programme of
community-based, galaxy-friendly space exploration  in our Space 1999
Festival of independent and community-based space exploration which starts
today.

For information about AAA and Space 1999 see:
www.deepdisc.com/space1999

Also check out Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space:
www.globenet.free-online.co.uk/contact.htm





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