2004 Reports

• The Military Capabilities and Implications of China's Indigenous Satellite-Based Navigation System Geoffrey Forden Science and Global Security, 12:219-250, 2004 -- China has orbited a three-satellite constellation for space-based navigation known as Beidou. Limited in terrestrial coverage to roughly the Asian subcontinent, this system requires a user either to go through an iterative procedure ill-suited to most military applications or to provide his or her own standard of time by carrying a high-precision clock. The iterative method does provide accuracies comparable to NAVSTAR/GPS over a restricted area of the Earth. Carrying an atomic clock, however, allows the system to be used in a mode that can provide sufficient accuracy to be used on MIRVed Chinese ICBMs en route to the United States and make a significant improvement in accuracy. Surprisingly, those modes of operation do not provide sufficient accuracy for most conventional military users.
• Britain's Role in U.S. Missile Defense Authored by Dr. Jeremy Stocker. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College July 2004
• A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover The President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy Jun 2004 -- "On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new vision for America's civil space program that calls for human and robotic missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This vision set forth goals of: returning the Space Shuttle safely to flight; completing the International Space Station (ISS); phasing out the Space Shuttle when the ISS is complete (about 2010); sending a robotic orbiter and lander to the Moon; sending a human expedition to the Moon as early as 2015, but no later than 2020; conducting robotic missions to Mars in preparation for a future human expedition; and conducting robotic exploration across the solar system." [PDF 2.17 Mb]
• An Informed Guess About Why Patriot Fired Upon Friendly Aircraft and Saw Numerous False Missile Targets During Operation Iraqi Freedom + Appendices 1-2 By Theodore A. Postol Professor of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 20 Apr 2004 [PDF 3.1 Mb]
• Appendices 3-4 By Theodore A. Postol Professor of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 20 Apr 2004 [PDF 2.72 Mb]
• Draft: An Informed Guess About Why Patriot Fired Upon Friendly Aircraft and Saw Numerous False Missile Targets During Operation Iraqi Freedom Theodore A. Postol Professor of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 15 April 2004 [PDF 1.14 Mb]
• Commercial Space Transportation Year in Review - 2003 2004 - Summarizes U.S. and international launch activities for a specific calendar year. It includes a review and analysis for the five-year period prior to the year of the Review.