The US congress has approved $5m for an independent study of space-based missile defences, a potential step toward a system once mocked as 'Star Wars'. The money was included in a little-noticed part of the 2009 defence appropriations bill, signed into law by George Bush on 30 September.


US defence contractors Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman could be big beneficiaries. Last year, congress rejected $10m sought for such a study amid concerns it could lead to "weaponisation" of space.