Space Force Jumps in Race With China, Russia

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2020-06-26 12:33:45

After achieving political escape velocity last year, the Space Force’s bureaucratic second-stage engine, set to propel it for the next decade, has silently kicked in.

The U.S. Defense Space Strategy, published last week offers little Sci-Fi romance and plenty of dry pronouncements, but according to analysts, it is an important step for the U.S. military as it orientates itself towards great power competition with Russia and China.

For now, space warfare might be crudely understood as predominantly satellite warfare. That is, the protection, weaponization, and neutralization of the all-seeing, all-knowing information architecture that holds up the military and modern society—especially the vital GPS system that guides ballistic missiles to their targets, allows you to pull cash out of an ATM, and even guides electricity through the grid.

But China’s Space ambition reaches beyond jamming and taking down satellites—to the moon and further into deep space. According to analysts, leaders in Beijing see space supremacy as vital to the Chinese Communist Party’s very survival.