Satellite attack: the mounting arms race in space

Last year a US general made an ominous revelation: two Russian satellites in orbit were stalking a US spy satellite high above the earth.

It wasn't clear if the Cosmos satellites could attack U.S.-245, an American surveillance spacecraft.

"It has the potential to create a dangerous situation in space," said General Jay Raymond, head of the Pentagon's Space Command.

The incident passed, but it marked a new stage in the mounting arms race in space, where potentially bomb-armed satellites, laser-shooting spacecraft and other technologies have moved from science fiction to reality.