
GLOBAL NETWORK SPACE NEWSLETTER November 9, 1999 1) CHINA CALLS FOR SPACE WEAPONS BAN: China's Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs has called on the U.N. to work toward negotiating a treaty on the prevention of the "weaponization" of space. Ambassador Li Changhe recently stated that "Outer space will be turned into a weapon base and battle field, and regional and global strategic stability will be undermined." 2) METEOR STORM CAUSING CONCERN: The international space industry and government agencies will be holding their breath on November 17 when the annual Leonids Meteor Shower hits earth's atmosphere and likely sandblasts hundreds of earth-orbiting satellites with comet particles. The more than 500 operational satellites now in orbit will be monitored and repositioned in order to minimize damage to them. The unknown number of U.S. and Russian nuclear powered satellites in earth orbit would be in danger of being hit as well. 3) LETTERS TO GLENN: Hundreds of letters from all over the U.S. and Europe were sent to Sen. John Glenn prior to his late October launch into space. The letters urged him to speak out against turning the heavens into a battlefield. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) also sent a message to Sen Glenn urging him to make such a statement. In the past Sen. Harkin has introduced the "Outer Space Protection Act" which would have banned weapons in space. Unfortunately Harkin's bill could never even get hearings. 4) DOE & PLUTONIUM: The Department of Energy is now undergoing planning to expand their production process for nuclear power in space. As inter-planetary missions like Cassini are expanded and serious efforts are made toward missions to the moon and Mars, nuclear power becomes more of an issue. Mining colonies are now being seriously planned and discussed by NASA for the moon and Mars. They are proposing to power these colonies with nuclear sources. One must wonder how communities and workers at/near DOE plutonium production sites will be impacted? DOE didn't have a very good record when they were building bombs. Contact us for more info. The deadline for comment at DoE on this issue is January 4, 1999. 5) SPACE STATION OVERRUNS: NASA is now asking for an additional $660 million to help the Russians with their share of the International Space Station (ISS). Already the U.S. has given Russia $470 million for the maintenance of the Mir space station. The ISS is now expected to cost more than $40 billion to complete. 6) LAUNCH SITES UNDERWAY ALL OVER U.S.: Currently most rockets are launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida or Vandenberg AFB in California. Plans are now underway to build launch sites at the following places in the U.S.: Wallops Island, Virginia; Kodiak Island, Alaska; Spaceport Montana on the Crow Indian reservation; and Nevada Test Site. Other states are also vying for selection as a launch site for Lockheed Martin's new X-33 (VentureStar). They include Arkansas, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington. 7) TAX BREAKS SOUGHT BY SPACE INDUSTRY: A proposal by Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-Ca.), the "zero gravity-zero tax" would exempt from taxes all space corporations that produce new technologies or push old ones to new limits. Expect to see this proposal at the top of industries agenda in the next Congress. 8) U.N. PRESS CONFERENCE: On October 15 the New York City Women's Int'l League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) and the Global Network held a press conference at the United Nations in New York to call upon the international community to take action to stop the August 18, 1999 nuclear fly-by of Cassini. Tina Bell (WILPF) did much of the organizing of the event and Karl Grossman from the Global Network was one of the speakers. 9) NORTH CAROLINA TO IOWA: Friends and members of the GN continue to bring the message about the nuclearization and weaponization of space to their communities. A guest editorial called "Protest Weapons in Space" by our long time friend Olive Wilson appeared in the newspaper called the Northwest Iowa Review (right in the middle of corn and pig country). And in North Carolina GN member and advisory board member Bill Towe is speaking to groups about our work and taking the issue to the national board meeting of Peace Action which he is a member of. 10) ENGLAND SPACE MEETING: Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) will be holding a "Colonizing Space: Peaceful Exploration or Military Adventure" on November 14 at Vaughan College in Leicester. Karl Grossman from the Global Network will be among the speakers. E-mail to cndyorks@gn.apc.org for more info. 11) FLORIDA SPACE MEETING: On February 27, 1999 the Global Network will hold a statewide space organizing meeting in Cocoa Beach at the Solar Energy Center. The event will be co-sponsored by the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice. The meeting will be followed by a vigil at the front gates of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Topics to be discussed will include space weapons; the Cassini fly-by; and space solar power developments. 12) GLOBAL NETWORK MEETING IN GERMANY: On March 3-5, 1999 the Global Network will hold its 7th Annual Meeting. The event will be held in Darmstadt, Germany. All who are interested in space issues are invited to attend. Contact us for more info. 13) SPACE LAW TO BE DISCUSSED: The Colorado Springs-based Citizens for Peace in Space will be holding an event some time this winter to discuss Space Law and the efforts of the U.S. to manipulate it in order to deploy weapons in space and to make ownership claims on celestial bodies. For details call CPIS at (719) 389-0644. 14) NUKES IN SPACE II VIDEO: The much anticipated re-make of the award winning video "Nukes in Space" is now available. Karl Grossman and Steve Jambeck have worked hard to make the new video even better than the original. And shorter too, only 29 minutes this time. Send your check for $23 (includes S/H) to the Global Network, PO Box 90083, Gainesville, Fl. 32607. 15) GLOBAL NETWORK MEMBERSHIP: At this time the GN is an all volunteer organization, no paid staff. In order to stop this enormous juggernaut pushing nukes and weapons into space we will need to be more visible and more active. It is our hope to soon publish a print newsletter but at this time we have no funds to do it. If you'd like to support our work please consider taking out a membership in our growing organization. Group and individual memberships are on a sliding scale, pay what you can best afford between $25 - $100. And please help us by forwarding this e-mail to your own list. Thanks. For peace in space, Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator PO Box 90083 Gainesville, Fl. 32607 (352) 337-9274