OREANDA-NEWS. American scientists and experts in an interview with the portal «Space.com» spoke about the ongoing militarization of outer space and suggested whether it could escalate into a full-scale conflict between Russia, China and the United States.

According to Mark Gubrud, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, a kind of space war is already happening. He is talking about cases of jamming satellite communications, laser blinding satellites for photography, as well as probing systems for possible hacking. Such intervention can lead to an escalation of tension, as it is practiced more often, and the parties continue to develop their skills, Gubrud believes.

«The risk of a sharp escalation becomes a serious threat to nuclear stability, since the main warring powers will almost certainly be the United States, Russia and China», the scientist said. The only good news, in his opinion, is that the conflict still hasn't happened. He suggested, that the parties are sufficiently aware of how dangerous this is.

As Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the Naval War College in Newport, noted, «certain circles» in the United States are lobbying for the idea, that the country should not lag behind on the issue of space weapons. According to her, further development of plans for waging war in space is inevitable. «I believe, that without the help of 'space diplomacy', there is a clear danger, that the prophecy of war will be fulfilled», Johnson — Freese said, calling on the Joe Biden administration to pay attention to this issue.

Meanwhile, Professor Wendy Whitman Cobb of the US Air Force School of Advanced Research in Aviation and Space does not believe in the inevitability of war. According to her, since the 1960s, analysts have been constantly saying, that collisions in space are «not far off». «To disable the satellite through which financial transactions and key communications pass, a single piece of space debris is enough. A faulty satellite can lead to serious economic consequences not only in one country», the expert stressed. The world powers are aware of the danger of escalation in space, she concluded.