But new levels of cooperation between the military and industry might reduce the risk. "Relying on the commercial sector clearly also inherently raises very real concerns about vulnerability," according to Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese, a former lecturer and analyst at the Air Force Air College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

"Obviously the risk analysis now says the benefits outweigh those concerns," she added. But Freese, who has published several books on military and international space programs, warns that the security of U.S. defense space projects will depend on the overall health of the industry.

The industry is chafing under the current satellite export restrictions imposed by concerns over technology transfer to China. If the series of export curbs is too tight, the industry could be damaged, thus harming the Pentagons space plans. "If the U.S. aerospace industry begins to suffer, so too could U.S. military space capabilities," Freese suggested. "What an ironic unintended consequence of trying to protect national security."

The increased reliance on commercial space by the Pentagon was inevitable, according to analyst Charles P. Vick with the Federation of American Scientists Space Policy Project in Washington. Vick also said that the need to protect space assets such as commercial satellites in the event of war was nothing more than acknowledging the reality of the post-Cold War era.

"These changes were long overdue, based on present reality... and the world threat potential," Vick said. But he suggested that cooperation between the Pentagon and industry in modifying commercial spacecraft for military missions might reduce the risk of relying on industry."

The DoD and the commercial community are talking about hardening and securing systems on commercial satellites, both for DoDs needs and for commercial reasons," Vick said. "New comsats will be roughly equivalent to defense systems, so the risk of vulnerabilities will be reduced as a result," he explained.

But Vick suggested that the real issue facing military space policymakers hasnt yet been addressed -- a cultural change is needed. "This new policy does nothing to address the issue of getting the Air Force flyboys out of the real military space business," Vick predicted. "You do not fly aircraft in space like you do spacecraft". He also suggested that the era of military spaceplanes and space forces patrolling the heavens was far into the future. "We are simply not there yet, both in technology and operations, and we are not going to operate like that (in space) for a very long time -- if ever," he said.