Note: The pilot uplink beam controlling the microwave transmission would preclude the possibility of wandering beams. Objects placed in geostationary orbit (such as SPS) where there is no atmospheric drag, can rather easily be maintained there indefinitely. Skylab could have been maintained in orbit as well; for a variety of reasons, none involving technological capability, it was not. IV.6 IVhy is it necessary to study the military implications of the SPS? Is the SPS's primary purpose a military one? How vulnerable is the system to sabotage and therefore to disruption in the supply of energy? The SPS is an energy system. It may have military applications; several have already been suggested.However, to be a viable energy system the SPS should be kept out of the military realm. Preliminary ^gsessments o£$the military implications of the SPS were made bv Bain and Ozeroff . The objectives of the investigations were (1) to identify the potential military uses for the SPS and how these would affect international relations, and (2) to identify the relative vulnerability of the SPS to overt military action, terrorist attacks and sabotage. The SPS Project Office accepted the findings of these preliminary assessments, and the general consensus among other investigators who touched on the subject, that: (1) a completely internationalized SPS would have the most beneficial effect on international relations (indeed, on domestic acceptance of the system, as well) and, (2) any military application would be likely to destabilize international relations. Internationalization of the SPS could nearly eliminate the vulnerability of the system to overt military action, especially if participation in its development were broadly-based and substantial. The system might still be vulnerable to terrorist attack or sabotage although, as Bain and Ozeroff found, it is unlikely that the space segment would be threatened by such actions. The rectenna facility would be no more vulnerable to these actions than other large industrial __ See, for example, Berger, Howard , et al, "Effects of Technological Advances on International Stability: High Energy Lasers in Space," Science Applications, Inc., August 1977. 48 Bain, Claud N., SPS Preliminary Societal Assessment: Military Implications, DOE HCP/R-4024-11, October 1978. 49Ozeroff, Michael J., SPS Preliminary Societal Assessment: Military Implications, DOE HCP/R-4024-01, October 1978.
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