Its new space strategy calls for the US to reach out to allies in Asia. But will differences with China undermine progress?
While the United States once dominated military space activities, in recent years a number of factors have combined to make space less hospitable to its national security interests and Washington more willing to reach out to potential partners—including those in Asia.
One complicating factor for the United States has been growing congestion resulting from foreign satellites, orbital debris, and radiofrequency interference. Another has been the spread of offensive space capabilities and activities, which has placed more space targets under threat. But a third is the reality that US space dominance has simply been eroded—dozens of governments, companies, and other actors now launch and operate satellites, while the United States itself is making fewer satellites.
It’s with these developments in mind that the United States is looking to transform its space policy in partnership with the private sector, foreign governments, and intergovernmental organizations, a strategy highlighted in the National Security Space Strategy (NSSS) released this month.
According to the document, the idea is to ‘minimize the chances for mishaps, misperception, and mistrust in space’ through sharing space situational awareness information, improving information and developing transparency and confidence-building measures. However, there’s also an unmistakably hard edge to the US approach. As Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn told the media, ‘We need to ensure that we can continue to utilize space to navigate with accuracy, to communicate with certainty, to strike with precision, and to see the battlefield with clarity.’
The new approach recognizes that no single country—not even the United States—has the resources to track every space object. The goal of the new cooperative approach therefore is to notify satellite operators of potential collisions between orbiting objects much earlier and with far greater accuracy.
In addition, the Pentagon is also considering extending cooperation to include: exchanging more space-generated data regarding other domains including the world’s oceans (to notify shippers of the locations of pirates), establishing a collaborative missile launch warning network, and conducting collective environmental monitoring of the military effects on climate change.
In keeping with the emphasis on boosting co-operation, the Defence and State Departments are already engaged in technical exchanges with experts from the European Space Agency and the European Union—as well as with the individual member states belonging to these two organizations—to enhance interoperability between their space awareness systems. But both departments also have their eyes on working more closely with US allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific.
Indeed, Asian countries represent important potential partners—and problems—for this new approach. As a group, Asian countries are expected to soon surpass European nations by securing 12.5 percent of the global military satellite sales market. Japan and China have longstanding space programmes, while India, South Korea, and Iran are emerging space powers. Even North Korea justifies its periodic long-range missile tests by professing to test space launch vehicles.
Photo Credit: US Navy
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gary pohlemann
good
Jeff
USA, China, Russia, and their belligerent satellites, I think it is a nonsense weaponization of space for creating a battlefield above our heads. I believe governments should join efforts to colonize space saving human race from extinction instead of doing things that menace our existence. http://tinyurl.com/nuclear-fusion-starship
The_Observer
Colonization of space is a boondoggle and so is the preparation for a highly unlikely Hollywood-like earth strike by an asteroid. There are more pressing problems to attend to like not messing up the one earth that humans already occupy and to care for people who are less fortunate.
Jeff
I think our Earth is a wonderful world. The problem is the people who live on it, always wanting to destroy natural resources or killing each other. I hope mankind going to space may let our beloved Earth and its biodiversity in peace. It will be a new era of prosperity in the outer space for people who are less fortunate, without messing up the Earth.
The_Observer
The Americans are hypocrites. There have been several occasions when the Chinese and the Russians wanted all space faring nations to commit not to weaponize space but the US declined. The US is currently using her space assets to help in monitoring and targeting adversaries in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US uses drones and other remote-controlled weapons and the business of killing has been reduced to an arcade game played by juvenile socio-paths. Because the US says it has to have freedom of space to carry out her objectives the Chinese and Russians turned to developing counter-measures. This is correct as you can never tell when the US may turn agreesive to either one of those countries. For the USA this is merely reaping what she sowed.
hk
Where are Huang…John Chan… other Chinese Government proxies ???
John Chan
Only people who are government proxies themselves will have the inclination to suspect others are also as low as they are automatically.
Chinese defending China are here to expose the lies told about China, clear smear painted on China, and tell the truth to correct distorted facts laid on China.
John
John Chan wrote: “Chinese defending China are here to expose the lies told about China, clear smear painted on China, and tell the truth to correct distorted facts laid on China.”
John, when you find the truth, then let me know.
You regurgitate populist Chinese ideas that are so far from truth, that even at the speed of light would take a few miliniums just to get close to the truth.
Also considering that most Governments dont pay people to disagree with others, it makes me wonder that you even consider that normal.
megakids
@ John
“You regurgitate populist Chinese ideas that are so far from truth…”
When the ideas are “populist”, it doesn’t make it UNTRUE.
You don’t have to make everything opposite to make it unique and different.
To John Chan, keep up your good work, and ignore people like “John”.
LouDobbs
hk’s off-topic post has completely derailed the comments section. There are sinophiles and sinophobes, nothing surprising here. The McCarthy-esque accusations of posters being “Communist infiltrators” or “American imperialists” is incredibly stupid, and does nothing to add to the discussion. Have we really gotten to the point that any dissent to the China-fear nonsense automatically makes a user a Communist spy? Do we have to lower ourselves to McCarthyism? And I thought the Cold War war over!