In January 2002, the Mainstream Media Project launched a Space Weapons Program with two primary objectives:

• to facilitate enhanced communications and networking between NGOs in this country and around the world working on the issue of space weaponization and to serve as a shared resource for information and public outreach for the space sanctuary movement, and
  
  
• to place authoritative experts and activists seeking to preserve space for peaceful purposes on interview programs in the mainstream broadcast media at home and abroad

In these ways, the Space Weapons Program sought to raise public awareness and spark debate on the Bush Administration's drive to deploy a missile defense system with a space-based layer by 2004 and to deploy other kinds of space weapons.

The MMP Space Weapons Program created a global directory of information about those NGOs and experts working to prevent the weaponization of space. We worked to facilitate communication both among NGOs and experts, and with the media.

By providing these informational and networking services, our Program sought to play a vital catalyzing role to increase the impact and effectiveness of everyone's work. We responded to breaking news stories related to the weaponization of space by notifying our Guests on Call radio outreach team of key opportunities, helping them frame appropriate media alerts in response, and recommending guests for interviews.

We coordinated this media outreach with communications staff at major NGOs working on these issues as well as other media organizations to achieve the greatest impact for the least expense and to "echo" messages and coverage of events in diverse media.

The MMP Space Weapons Program was made possible with generous support from the Ploughshares Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the W. Alton Jones Foundation, and the Samuel Rubin Foundation.