The U.S. Department of Defense controls more than half of the military satellites currently active in orbit and spends 95% of the world’s annual budget on military space, with expenditures reaching $25 billion in 2010 (up from $17.5 billion in 2003). By comparison, NASA spent $18 billion in 2010. Throughout the Cold War, the United States spent approximately $8 trillion on military equipment. The entire cost of the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury missions (adjusted for 600% inflation) was spent on every year and a half of the mission in Iraq.
