WASHINGTON — Wars could move from Earth to the Final Frontier in less than a decade, yet the government is not making space defense a priority, the space commission warned a congressional committee.

The inattention will leave the nation vulnerable to its enemies, who already might have tried to strike at U.S. satellite systems, a 100-page report said.

"An attack on elements of U.S. space systems during a crisis or conflict should not be considered an improbable act," reads the report. "If the U.S. is to avoid a ‘space Pearl Harbor’ it needs to take seriously the possibility of an attack in U.S. space systems."

The United States has more satellites and space probes in orbit than any other country, and relies on them for purposes like military surveillance, cellular phones and pagers services, weather forecasts, television programming and global positioning satellite systems.

And while the United States now is at least a generation ahead of others in terms of space technology, the gap is quickly narrowing, said retired Adm. David Jeremiah, a commission member.

Threats can include attacking ground stations or jamming satellite signals, which can be done by handheld jammers available commercially worldwide or launching what are called micro or nanosatellites.

"Many countries also have military jamming capabilities, including Russia and China as well as Iran, Cuba, Iraq and North Korea," the report states. It cited two examples: Indonesia jammed a transponder on a Chinese-owned satellite, and Iran and Turkey jammed dissidents’ satellite-TV broadcasts.

The effects could be crippling, Jeremiah said, from disabling military surveillance to cutting off commercial communication services.

The findings of the commission mirrored findings in a National Recognizance Office report submitted to Congress in December. This lends credibility to the increasing danger of space wars and the nation’s vulnerability to them, said Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I thought it was a very good report, a very positive report," Allard said. "I thought [it] showed the vulnerabilities that we have in space currently along with solutions to countering those vulnerabilities."

The commission also suggested restructuring the nation’s space policies, now spread over the Pentagon, the various armed services, the CIA and other federal agencies.

The report recommends creating an undersecretary position at the Pentagon level to head a space department or having the undersecretary of the Air Force oversee operations.

The Air Force is up to the task, spokesman Capt. Joe Della Vedova said.

"The Air Force is on the leading edge of advancing space technology and research of future space programs. The Air Force is also the nation’s space warfare expert," he said.

Currently, the Air Force runs 90 percent of the Defense Department’s space programs. And the allotment for its space budget has increased in the last decade from 6.5 percent of its total operating budget to 9 percent, Della Vedova said.

The portion earmarked for space science and technology increased from 13 percent in the fiscal 1999 budget to 36 percent of the $71.1 billion fiscal 2001 budget, he said.

Commissioners did not recommend how much money the program would need.

Defense Secretary-designate Donald Rumsfeld headed the space commission until December, when he accepted President-elect George W. Bush’s request to lead the Pentagon.

Supporters of a centralized space program hope Rumsfeld will remember his work on the commission and keep space defense in the forefront of his planning if he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Allard pledged to work with the Pentagon to find funding for such programs.

"I believe President-elect Bush will make changes based on this report, and I hope that it will be received well both in Congress and at the Department of Defense," Allard said.