"The risk of weaponization of outer space is mounting". And efforts are now underway to "control and occupy outer space". So the Chinese envoy Hu Xiaodi told the UN Conference on Disarmament at the end of July. His remarks were directed towards US plans for a Missile Defense system, which is being developed at breakneck speed by the US government. The remarks are highly significant and add weight to the arguments of organisations like Yorkshire CND that have pinpointed space weaponisation as a key threat Missile Defence poses to stability.

What makes the remarks all the more compelling is the fact that the Pentagon, in its recent annual report to Congress on Chinese military power, admitted that one of the key reasons that China is increasing its arsenal of nuclear weapons is that it wants to maintain the "credibility" of its nuclear weapons in the face of US Missile Defence.

Missile Defence, as predicted, is provoking arms proliferation. And the consequences of a burgeoning Chinese nuclear arsenal do not stop at Chinese/American relations. The threat of nuclear proliferation provokes others to proliferate and India, Pakistan and North Korea could all follow the same path, to name a few. Missile Defence serves several juicy cuts of republican ideology up on one plate. If it works it will become, as Lt. Col. Robert Bowman, U.S. Air Force director put it, "...the missing link to a First Strike." A shield is something from which to fight behind.

But Missile Defence is part of a bigger picture too. The US is developing space weapons - lasers, anti-satellite weaponry, kinetic energy weapons and more - that will be capable of firing at other objects in space and, in the laser's case, through the atmosphere on to Earth. The US plans in the future to integrate space-based lasers in to the star wars system and either way, they are planning on taking control of space as a war-fighting spectrum. A brief look at current US military thinking tells all. Statements like "space dominance is essential", "control of space and the ability to deny others access to space", "space is recognised as the fourth medium of warfare" are there for all to read. China and Russia called in July for an international moratorium on the placing of weapons in space until a new Treaty - the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) Treaty - can be negotiated. The US isn't interested.

The UK government is sticking to its current policy of doggedly supporting all US foreign policy objectives and has thrown its weight behind Missile Defence. In January this year they gave the US permission to use the "RAF" Fylingdales Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar in North Yorkshire for the system. No doubt as soon as the US asks to use the other key US base in the UK (also in North Yorkshire) - "RAF" Menwith Hill's Space satellite relay facilities, they will be given the go-ahead there too. It doesn't end there though. Geoff Hoon- the Defence Secretary (for now) - has signed special agreements with the US, which he has so far refused to detail, to lobby for UK arms Industry involvement. Whilst the UK government hasn't said they're considering creating a UK Missile Defence system, they are quite clearly looking at getting a slice of the US system for UK industry.

So keen are they that they have just opened up a virtual "UK Missile Defence Centre", the aims of which are to establish a key role for UK arms companies in the project, establish a lead role in Missile Defence for the UK, provide information for policy decisions and to build a UK Missile Defence team. In other words the centre will be a key Missile Defence think-tank and lobby group for the UK government - and it's made up of UK MOD officials and arms corporations (namely Stasys, DSTL, Insys, BAe Systems, AMS, MBDA and Qinetiq).

So things are moving quickly. But as yet, there is no working Missile Defence system and there are no weapons in space. Action can help to keep it that way. This October 4^th - 11th is Keep Space for Peace Week - an international day of action with demos, conferences and more happening in countries across the globe. In Yorkshire CAAB and Yorkshire CND are holding a demonstration at Menwith Hill on Saturday October 11^th. "Don't take the peace out of space" starts at 12pm and goes on until about 4pm. Music, food, speakers, open mic and more will be available. All are warmly invited - come dressed as a celestial body!

The will to win peace and the drive to take action could just be enough.