Space Race 2.0 - Renewed Great Power Competition in the Earth's Orbits

 
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Christoph Schwarz, Sofia-Maria Satanakis

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Space Race 2.0 – Renewed Great Power
Competition in the Earth’s Orbits
Introduction                                      In recent years, however, this clause is in-    However, a critical turning point occurred
                                                  creasingly being drawn into question and        with the First Gulf War in 1990-1991, when
With the successful launch of Soviet satellite    competition is once again on the agenda.        space-based capabilities shifted from pu-
Sputnik 1 into orbit in 1957, modern civili-      While building on the technological legacy      rely strategic to tactical significance during
zation eventually arrived in outer space, the     of the Space Race allows for ever more          wartime. Signals intelligence (the intercep-
final frontier of human exploration. A step       sophisticated space-based application, an       tion of adversarial signals), telecommuni-
which would herald the start of a new era,        increasingly hostile environment in the         cations, positioning/navigation, and seve-
an age of relentless competition among the        international system has spurred the mili-      ral other novel technical advancements,
great powers, marked by unprecedented             tarization of space. Especially the growing     for the first time, allowed the United States
heights in scientific endeavor. The Space         distrust between the United States and          near real-time support of ground forces
Race, as this period is referred to, pushed       its declared great power rivals, China and      with intelligence and the effective use of
the United States and the Soviet Union to         Russia, has led to a recent overhaul of the     precision-guided munitions. The efficacy
devote immensurable resources into their          countries’ military doctrines, organizations    of these ground-breaking weapons and
space programs, thus generating techno-           and capabilities in order to meet this new      intelligence systems based on space-appli-
logical advancements that would forever           reality, in which “space is a warfighting do-   cations naturally did not remain unnoticed
transform human capabilities. From compu-         main just like air, land and sea”, as General   by other nations. Consequentially, as ca-
ter technology to telecommunications and          John Raymond, commander of the U.S. Air         pability fuels the development of counter-
navigation, the chase for the stars in the        Force Space Command, stated in 2017.2           capability, Russia and China initiated ASAT
latter half of the 20th century enabled the       What we can observe in space today is a         programs that were significantly extended
discovery and advancement of countless            classic security dilemma among the great        over the past three decades, advancing
applications that impacted both the civil         powers, with space capabilities represen-       the militarization of, and magnifying the
and the military domains in an unparalleled       ting both an increasing vulnerability as        security dilemma in, space. To better un-
manner. After the Space Race peaked in            well as opportunity during military con-        derstand space as a potential warfighting
1969, with the United States successfully         flict. This paper shall provide an overview     domain, two concepts need to be further
landing Apollo 11 on the moon, the fierce         of space-related military developments in       elaborated on, namely Space for Defence
competition defining the early years of the       the USA, China, Russia and the European         and Defence of Space.4
Space Age was increasingly replaced by co-        Union, shedding light on the current state
operation. In 1972, the US and the Soviets        of the militarization of space.                 Space for Defence refers to the aforementi-
launched the cooperative Apollo-Soyuz Test                                                        oned space-based capabilities that serve
Project and other collaborative initiatives,      Space as a Warfighting Domain                   as a force enabler during military conflict
such as the International Space Station                                                           and can be broadly summarized into three
(ISS), followed in the years to come. Also,       The story of humanity in space has many         categories: Intelligence, Reconnaissance
the legal character of space activities star-     dimensions and it’s use for military purpo-     and Surveillance (ISR); Positioning, Naviga-
ted to take shape. The Outer Space Treaty,        ses has been one since the very beginning.      tion and Timing (PNT); and Satellite Com-
formally known as the “Treaty on Principles       Sputnik 1 unleashed fear in the United          munications (SATCOMs). ISR, for example,
Governing the Activities of States in the Ex-     States that it could represent a harbinger      includes earth observation, early missile
ploration and Use of Outer Space, including       for space-based nuclear weapons, leading        warning systems, meteorology or signals
the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies“, was         to the first anti-satellite (ASAT) program      intelligence. PNT facilitates the precise exe-
signed by the U.S., the UK and the USSR           in the US in 1958, with the Soviets quickly     cution of military operations and weapon
in 1967, which, as of now, 109 nations are        following suit. Although several ASAT           strikes, continuously providing decision-
parties to. This UN treaty, forming the basic     systems were deployed by both sides             makers of armed forces with enhanced
legal framework for international space           over the course of the Cold War, space          situational awareness. The U.S. Global
law, prohibits weapons of mass destruction        as a domain for military conflict was not       Positioning System (GPS) is a primary ex-
from being placed in space, as well as estab-     seriously considered by either party. If        ample of this kind. SATCOMs represent an
lishes that “the exploration and use of outer     anything, satellite technology was rather       essential competence for command and
space shall be carried out for the benefit        considered a stabilizing element, allowing      control during military conflict, allowing
and in the interests of all countries and shall   for the de-escalation of conflicts through      for the consistent and quick transmission
be the province of all mankind“.1                 enhanced intelligence on the adversary3.        of critical intelligence and orders in any en-

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vironment. What becomes apparent when            USA                                               strengthen deterrence and warfighting
looking at these various capabilities is that,                                                     options, improve foundational capabilities
while providing nations that are in posses-      The 20th century witnessed the United Sta-        (such as PNT and ISR), and foster a condu-
sion of it with tremendous leverage in and       tes’ rise to hegemony, asserting politico-        cive environment for the U.S. commercial
out of combat, they equally represent a          military dominance in practically every           space industry.
serious vulnerability. Defence of Space thus     domain. A superiority which would also
refers to the protection of the Achilles’ heel   manifest itself in space, be it for scientific,   As part of this broader move to overhaul
that space-based applications have be-           commercial or military ends. Building on          the U.S. military approach to space, Trump
come for countries increasingly reliant on       the experiences of the Gulf War, outer            issued the creation of the U.S. Space Force
them, most notably the United States, and        space was declared a vital interest for U.S       (USSF), which was approved by Congress
“consists of all active and passive measures     national security by the end of the 1990s.        in December 2019. The USSF therefore
taken to protect friendly space capabilities     Around that time, a Commission headed             constitutes the now sixth branch of the
from attack, interference, or unintentional      by Defense Secretary-designate Donald             U.S. Armed Forces and co-exists with the
hazards“5. Besides unintentional hazards,        Rumsfeld submitted a report to Congress,          U.S. Air Force within the Department of the
such as solar winds or space debris, the         assessing the “U.S. National Security Space       Air Force, similar to the U.S. Navy and the
threat scenario that militaries encounter        Management and Organization”6. Warning            U.S. Marine Corps within the Department
in space is continuously expanding, due to       against a potential “space Pearl Harbor”,         of the Navy. This would allow the Space
technological progress that has conside-         the report advocated for an overhaul of           Force to mature within the pre-existing
rably increased the spectrum of counter-         the U.S. space organization and doctrine,         structures of the Air Force, before even-
space-capabilities in recent years. Broadly,     in order to meet the increasing threat            tually being transitioned into an inde-
one can discern between four different ty-       posed by other nations’ counterspace              pendent Department of the Space Force.
pes of such counterspace weapons, which          capabilities. Consequentially, the “space         As such, the USSF “will be responsible
differentiate in the intended consequen-         dominance” doctrine was adopted by the            for organizing, training, and equipping
ces for space assets and in varying degrees      Bush administration in 2004, stressing that       military space forces of the United States
of technical sophistication. Kinetic physical    the use of space assets shall not be denied       to provide for freedom of operation in,
weapons, such as direct-ascent ballistic         by adversaries during conflict. Although          from, and to the space domain, inclu-
missiles or co-orbital satellites, represent     the United States embraced a generally            ding both combat and combat-support
the oldest and most overt form of ASAT           more collaborative stance in space affairs        functions to enable prompt and sustained
capability. The second type, non-kinetic         with Obama taking charge of the White             offensive and defensive space operations.”9
physical weapons, are a more sophisticated       House, the notion of offensive as well as         Additionally, the U.S. Space Command
alternative to physically damage assets,         defensive space control continued throug-         was re-established, tasked to develop a
including electromagnetic pulse weapons          hout subsequent strategy papers. It was           revised space defense doctrine and over-
(EMP), high-powered microwave weapons            not until Donald Trump assumed office,            see warfighting operations in space. The
(HPM) and high-powered laser weapons.            however, that organizational as well as           third institutional reform to support the
The third type, electronic counterspace wea-     doctrinal change on a more fundamental            modernization of the U.S. space architec-
pons, aim to jam or spoof radio frequency        level took place and the National Space           ture was the establishment of the Space
signals necessary for the transmission of        Council was revived by the President for          Development Agency (SDA) to accelerate
data between the satellite and the terrest-      the first time in 24 years. Instead of merely     innovation and development of next-
rial end-user. The fourth and last type of       seeing space-based applications as a criti-       generation space capabilities and conduct
counterspace capabilities are cyberattacks,      cal support function during military con-         space acquisition for the USSF.
targeting both the system and the data its-      flict, space itself being the theatre of such
elf. As such, satellite data can be intercep-    became the commonly held presumption.             The United States unquestionably main-
ted, monitored and corrupted. In the worst       The 2018 US National Defense Strate-              tains the most advanced space capabilities
case, a cyberattack can even result in the       gy (NDS) thus “recognizes great power             worldwide, demonstrating by far the
seizure of control of a satellite. Defensive     competition with China and Russia as the          most operational experience in space-
efforts to counter these threats include         central challenge to U.S. national security       integrated warfighting, as well as a highly
measures to deceive, degrade and destroy         and highlights space as a critical domain         sophisticated worldwide Space Situational
enemy targeting systems, physically pro-         in which this competition will occur.”7 Buil-     Awareness (SSA) system. Whereas only
tect space assets, as well as distribute and     ding on the NDS, the Trump administrati-          10% of American missiles were guided
diversify the platforms, orbits and systems      on furthermore issued the 2018 “America           by satellites in the Gulf War, this number
used for the fulfilment of certain capabili-     First National Space Strategy”. Claiming          increased to almost 70% during the war in
ties. The operability of GPS, for instance, is   that “competitors and adversaries have            Iraq10. As of 2018, the U.S. operated more
not reliant on a single satellite or ground      turned space into a warfighting domain”8,         than 350 civil and military ISR-satellites,
station, making it highly resilient against      the strategy essentially proclaims to incre-      providing space-based image intelligence
interference.                                    ase the resilience of space architectures,        (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGNIT), and

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measurement and signatures intelligence           also emphasized on China’s opposition to       COMs, China operates over 30 satellites
(MASINT). In terms of PNT, GPS satellites         an arms race in space and advocated for        and has initiated testing of next-genera-
represent the backbone of U.S. capabilities,      the peaceful use of space, it became clear     tion quantum-enabled communications,
being integrated into a multitude of we-          that space-related military capabilities are   putting the country at the forefront of the
apons systems and operational practices,          being viewed as vital in serving national      global satellite communications indust-
but also support a wide range of commer-          interests. This position was reaffirmed in     ry. This year, China is set to complete its
cial and civil applications. According to the     China’s subsequent defense white paper in      global constellation of 27 Beidou satellites
SDA, it is currently developing the National      2019, expressing that “space security pro­     facilitating worldwide PNT, a system simi-
Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). Bud-           vides strategic assurance for national and     lar to the GPS. In terms of counterspace
geted at around $11 billion, 250 satellites       social development.”13 Moreover, official      capabilities, China caught the world’s
will be launched until 2025, providing            documents by the People’s Liberation           attention for the first time in 2007, when it
global next-generation communication              Army (PLA) indicate that counterspace          destroyed one of its own meteorological
services to the U.S. military, including          operations are viewed as a critical means      satellites with a direct-ascent ASAT missile.
missile defense and PNT capabilities to           to counter possible US intervention during     An act for which it was heavily criticized for
supplement GPS11. Regarding counter-              military conflict, suggesting the destruc-     by the international community, as more
space capabilities, the U.S. does not have        tion of communication, reconnaissance          than 3000 pieces of debris now orbiting
officially acknowledged co-orbital or             and navigation satellites to “blind and        in low earth orbit (LEO) were produced.
direct-ascent ASAT weapons, it does howe-         deafen the enemy.”14                           Possibly because of this backlash, testing
ver possess the means to make use of such                                                        and development of kinetic physical
capabilities in short time if it chooses so. In   This doctrinal change was accompanied          weapons appear to have abated in recent
terms of electronic counterspace capabili-        by an organizational change, as the            years. Instead, reports suggest that China
ty, the U.S. operates the Counter Commu-          People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support     has seriously stepped up its efforts in the
nication System (CCS), providing up-link          Force (PLA SSF) was established in 2015        areas of non-kinetic physical and elect-
jamming which has proven to be effective          and became operational the following           ronic counterspace capabilities, such as
against Russian (GLONASS) and Chinese             year. Under direct authority of the Central    directed-energy weapons (lasers) and
(Beidou) navigation satellite systems.            Military Commission, the national defense      jamming-technology against enemy ISR,
Also, significant R&D efforts have gone           organization of the PRC, it is independent     navigation and communication satelli-
into ground-based high energy lasers for          from other branches of the military and        tes. Additionally, cyberwarfare has been
counterspace purposes in recent years.            combines the management of cyber               emphasized as a key asset in space-related
Considering the current resurgence in U.S.        space, electromagnetic space and outer         military operations by the PLA. In space,
space military ambitions and the claim to         space capabilities into a single entity. The   China and its SSF are most certainly a force
supremacy in space, U.S. space capabilities       merger of these areas under one umbrella       to be reckoned with.
will most certainly advance remarkably in         highlights China’s understanding of mo-
the foreseeable future.                           dern “informationized warfare”, a highly re-   Russia
                                                  current theme in Chinese strategy papers.
China                                             Besides the development of military space      With the Soviet Union having been a
                                                  doctrine, the SSF is responsible for R&D       pioneer in the space domain, activities
In China’s self-conception as a rising and        of certain space capabilities, space launch    in space, be it for military or scientific
increasingly competitive power, civil as          and support, navigation, ISR operations,       purposes, have a longstanding tradition in
well as military ambitions in space are           SATCOMs, as well as space attack and           its successor state Russia. Although space
firmly established. The latter was first          defense. As many space applications have       capabilities deteriorated after the collapse
acknowledged on paper by a doctrinal              dual-use properties, “civil-military integ-    of the USSR due to budgetary constraints
change in 2015, as China’s Military Strategy      ration” has been increasingly emphasized       and other setbacks, Russia remains a
stated that “outer space and cyber space          by China. Thus, the PLA SFF collaborates       global leader in space affairs, not only due
have become new commanding heights                closely with the Chinese civil and com-        to its heavy involvement in the ISS and
in strategic competition among all parties.       mercial space sector, with the intent of       the recent announcement to build a new
Countries concerned are developing their          leveraging potential synergies.                space station in the foreseeable future.
space forces and instruments, and the                                                            The Russian military doctrine and other
first signs of weaponization of outer space       In terms of capabilities, China is well on     strategic documents have long recognized
have appeared.”12 This change in doctrine         track to seriously challenge the United Sta-   space as a warfighting domain, stating
is merely a reaffirmation of preceding de-        tes’ longstanding superiority in space. With   that “no goal will be achieved in future
velopments, in that China has been inves-         more than 120 ISR satellites as of 2018, of    wars unless one belligerent gains informa-
ting heavily in ASAT capabilities to counter      which around half are owned by the PLA,        tion superiority over the other”15, which
information-enabled warfare ever since            China possesses the means for worldwide        consequentially translates into superiority
the Gulf War. Although the strategy paper         situational awareness. Regarding SAT-          in space. Together with China, Russia has

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repeatedly called for a space arms control       Russian ISR satellites still surpass Chinese   operational context, be it through bilateral
agreement to curb the weaponization              models in individual capability, providing     and multilateral arrangements or within
of outer space, a development for which          Russia with high proficiency in global SSA.    the framework of NATO, a defining cha-
it essentially blames the United States.         Russian SATCOM, on the other hand, com-        racteristic. Furthermore, the urgency with
However, the U.S. dismissed two attempts         pares poorly to other global powers, which     which security in space is regarded by EU
to reach such an agreement in 2008 and           is why recent modernization efforts have       member states varies depending on nati-
2014. On the one hand, Russia perceives          been initiated, including partnerships with    onal interests and differing strategic cul-
the tremendous might of U.S. space ca-           European satellite manufactures. Russia’s      tures. Whereas France adopted the Space
pabilities as undermining global strategic       PNT capabilities rely on the navigational      Defence Strategy and created a Space
stability, while on the other hand, it reco-     satellite constellation GLONASS, which is      Command in 2019, other countries, such
gnizes the vulnerability that an American        currently being updated with next-gene-        as Germany or Spain, have so far been
overdependence on space-based services           ration navigation satellites for improved      more reluctant to pursue military ambi-
represents. Russia has therefore been            accuracy. What Russia lacks in terms of        tions in space. However, supranational
putting great emphasis on counterspace           space-enabled warfare, it attempts to          cooperation is becoming an increasingly
capabilities ever since the Gulf War, while      compensate with counterspace capability.       prominent feature, as the European Union
concurrently avoiding to becoming exces-         Russia possesses over an exhaustive range      is incrementally emerging as a key player
sively reliant on space-based applications       of kinetic physical counterspace weapons,      in the space domain, which was defined
themselves. The notion being that if Russia      including ground and air-launched direct-      as a shared competence between the EU
could deny the adversary space-enabled           ascent ASAT missiles, as well as co-orbital    and its members through the Lisbon Tre-
warfare, its conventional weapons systems        satellites. The country has furthermore        aty in 2007. The EU’s ambitions in space
would prevail in military conflict.              invested heavily in electronic warfare ca-     affairs were underpinned by the 2016
                                                 pabilities, such as the Krashuka-4 mobile      Space Strategy for Europe. Among other
Organizational change to accommoda-              jammer, viewing the disruption of enemy        things, the paper highlighted Europe’s
te the new realities in space happened           communications, command, control and           need for freedom of action and autonomy
around the same time as in China. In             navigation capabilities as crucial during      in space, emphasizing that “space capa-
2015, Russia merged the Air Force and the        military conflict. In July 2018, the Russian   cities are strategically important to civil,
Aerospace Defense Troops (which existed          Aerospace Forces presented the Peresvet        commercial, security and defence-related
since the founding of the Russian Fede-          high energy laser weapon, praised by           policy objectives.”19 Building on the Space
ration, making it the oldest space force         Putin as a new type of strategic weapon        Strategy, the Commission proposed the
in the world) into the Aerospace Forces.         to destroy or disrupt enemy satellites. As     EU Space Programme in 2018, which
The Space Force within this new military         information warfare is a cornerstone of        would improve existing initiatives and
department is responsible for maintaining        Russia’s general approach to conflict, also    allocate €16 billion to EU space activities
the ballistic missile early warning system,      cyber-attack and -defense capabilities         during the next multiannual financial
the space surveillance network, the satel-       in the space domain have undergone             framework 2021-2027 (MFF). Conside-
lite control network, as well as space laun-     serious modernization efforts in recent        ring prospective budgetary constraints
ches. Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey        years. Although Russia may not be able         due to the Covid-19 crisis, however,
Shoygu, explained this reorganization            to compete with other space powers             expenditures for space could be at risk of
by stating that the center of gravity had        in terms of availability of resources and      significant curtailment. Furthermore, the
shifted to the aerospace sphere and was          scope, it nevertheless maintains a robust      Von der Leyen Commission created the
needed to counter the U.S. Prompt Global         spectrum of capabilities based on deca-        Directorate-General for Defence Industry
Strike (PGS) doctrine, a program that aims       des of experience from the Soviet era. A       and Space headed by Thierry Breton,
to allow the United States to deliver mili-      potential game changer in the current          with the goal to “improve the crucial link
tary strikes globally in less than an hour.16    dynamics of global power competition           between space, defence and security.”20 A
In terms of capability development, Russia       in outer space could be enhanced space         step which underscores the EU’s under-
relies almost exclusively on state-owned         cooperation between Russia and China,          standing for the intertwined areas of
companies, which are managed by the              as joint aerospace projects, such as lunar     space and defense and most certainly
state enterprise Roscosmos, the organiza-        exploration, have been envisaged by the        carries significant potential for synergies
tion also responsible for Russia’s civil space   two countries18.                               in key industries. The United Kingdom’s
program.                                                                                        future involvement in European space
                                                 European Union                                 affairs is still clouded by Brexit. Although
Russia ranks third in number of operati-                                                        cooperation on certain initiatives will
onal satellites behind the U.S. and China,       In Europe, military space doctrine and         presumably persist, the country has de-
with 140 satellites in various orbits provi-     governance are still largely determi-          monstrated closer alignment towards the
ding SATCOMs, ISR, navigation and other          ned by the individual nation states and        U.S. in recent years, especially in the area
services17. Although fewer in numbers,           intergovernmental cooperation in an            of space defense.

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Operationally, the European Commission           is facilitated through the EU Space Sur-       prevention of offensive space military
manages EU space programs and policy,            veillance and Tracking initiative (EU SST),    action, the EU should therefore continue
with the European Space Agency (ESA) as          programs to detect and predict the move-       to engage in defensive space efforts and
a partner for technical implementation.          ment of objects orbiting earth. As in other    develop its own space programs and
The European Satellite Centre (SatCen),          areas of security and defense, the EU yet      assets for a number of reasons:
under operational authority of the High          remains a marginal actor in space military
Representative of the Union for Foreign          affairs. However, spurred an increasingly       Enhancing European strategic
Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), gathers     hostile environment in space, a sense of          autonomy, for Europe’s free access to
data from EU and Member State sources            urgency has developed in recent years for         space underpins the implementation
to support EU operations and decision-           a need to protect shared European space           of many EU policies, the competitiven-
making in Common Foreign and Security            assets and interests. Enhanced EU coope-          ess of the European industry sector, as
Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and            ration and ambitions in the space domain          well as the Union’s overall security and
Defence Policy (CSDP) contexts. The Eu-          can thus be expected.                             defense. Space reinforces the EU’s role
ropean GNSS Agency (GSA) manages the                                                               as a strong and reliable global actor.
EU’s Global Navigation Satellite Systems,        Outlook and Recommendations                     Improving the EU’s crisis response
the European Geostationary Navigation                                                              and risk management to enhance
Overlay Service (EGNOS) and Galileo. In          Considering the current trajectory of mi-         Europe’s resilience.
terms of capability development, two Per-        litary developments in the space domain,        Increasing overall European security
manent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)            the assessment that outer space has once          by eliminating vulnerabilities related
projects are dedicated to space affairs,         again returned as a theatre for great power       to critical space infrastructure.
namely the EU radio navigation solution to       competition is absolutely warranted. Most       Fostering an innovative European
improve military PNT capabilities and the        notably the U.S., China and Russia, but also      space industry to compete in global
European Military Space Surveillance Aware-      other relevant actors, such as India or Ja-       markets and preserve technological
ness Network to develop an autonomous,           pan, have all acknowledged this fact both         independence.
sovereign EU military SSA capability. Also,      in terms of strategic alignment and capa-
one of the 11 priorities in the Capability       bilities. The Space Race was never actually
Development Plan (CDP) of the European           won. The United States merely trium-
Defence Agency (EDA) is “Space-based             phed in the first lap and, due to renewed
information and communication services”          strategic rivalry paired with the necessary
to further develop ISR, PNT, SATCOMs, SSA        technical requirements, we are now en-
and cyber defence capabilities21.                tering round two. That this development
                                                 bears great potential for future conflict to
At the heart of EU space capabilities are        the detriment of all mankind goes without
two flagship programs – Galileo and              saying. As for a lack of international ag-
Copernicus. Under ownership of the EU,           reements governing military activities in
these two initiatives represent a real miles-    space, the current state of affairs nurtures
tone in a supranational approach to space        belligerent sentiments rather than the
activities. Galileo, set to become fully ope-    peaceful co-existence of all nations, as
rational in 2020, is a state-of-the-art global   originally laid out in the UN Outer Space
navigation constellation providing PNT for       Treaty. The European Union, instead of joi-
primarily civilian purposes. Nevertheless,       ning the global arms race, would therefore
Galileo could potentially be used militarily     serve its own interests best in propagating
if member states choose to do so. Coper-         international arms control agreements
nicus provides ISR capabilities through          involving all actors, in order to curb the
earth observation and monitoring, already        anarchical nature of international relations
serving security and defense purposes            in space. Nevertheless, preparation for
through providing border surveillance,           the worst case is most certainly crucial,
maritime surveillance and support to the         as space technology, services and data
EU External Action Service. Furthermore, in      have become indispensable for Europeans
terms of SATCOMs, the GOVSATCOM pro-             and the functioning of all societies in the
gram, managed by the Commission, the             digital age, which is why developing a
EDA and ESA, provides satellite communi-         robust spectrum of capabilities to protect
cation to CSDP actors in both civilian and       European space assets is of paramount
military missions. Also, space surveillance      importance. Besides advocating for the

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Endnotes

1United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Treaty on Princip-
les Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use
of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.
(1966). https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/
treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html
2) Harrison, Todd et. al. Space Threat Assessment 2020. (2020).
https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publi-
cation/200330_SpaceThreatAssessment20_WEB_FINAL1.pdf
3) bid.
4) European Space Policy Institute. Europe Space and Defence.
(2020). https://espi.or.at/publications/espi-public-reports/
send/2-public-espi-reports/502-europe-space-and-defence
5) Joint Chiefs of Staff. Space Operations. (2018). https://www.
jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp3_14.pdf
6) Rumsfeld, Donald H. et. al. Report to the Commission to
Assess United States National Security Space Management and
Organization. (2001). https://aerospace.csis.org/wp-content/
uploads/2018/09/RumsfeldCommission.pdf
7) U.S. Department of Defence. United States Space Force.
(2019). https://media.defense.gov/2019/Mar/01/2002095012/-
1/-1/1/UNITED-STATES-SPACE-FORCE-STRATEGIC-OVERVIEW.PDF
8) The White House. President Donald J. Trump is Unveiling an
America First National Space Strategy. (2018). https://www.
whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-
trump-unveiling-america-first-national-space-strategy/
9) U.S. Department of Defence. United States Space Force.
(2019). https://media.defense.gov/2019/Mar/01/2002095012/-
1/-1/1/UNITED-STATES-SPACE-FORCE-STRATEGIC-OVERVIEW.PDF
10) Easton, Ian. The Great Game in Space – China’s Evolving ASAT
Weapons Programs and Their Implications for Future U.S. Strate-
gy. (2009). https://project2049.net/documents/china_asat_wea-
pons_the_great_game_in_space.pdf
11) Erwin, Sandra. Space Development Agency lays out five-year
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2016-705-F1-EN-MAIN.PDF                                              veröffentlichten Beiträge geben ausschließlich die
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source/eda-factsheets/2018-06-28-factsheet_cdpb020b03fa4d-           Tel. +43 (1) 3583080
264cfa776ff000087ef0f                                                E-Mail: office@aies.at
                                                                     Website: www.aies.at

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