The New Frontier of Space Militarization
The exploitation of space today is increasingly driven by the innovations of private actors. Confronted with Russia’s military aggression, Ukraine showed how nations with little or no space capabilities can leverage commercial space infrastructure for combat. The massive reliance on commercial actors to provide vital support for Ukraine’s military operations suggests a new round of the militarization of space, one that private actors increasingly dominate.
The civilian use of space has always gone hand in hand with its military use. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the US’s deployment of Explorer 1 in 1958 kicked off the space race between the two superpowers. As early as 1962, the US began to commercialize space with the launch of Telstar 1 – the first commercial communications satellite. In the same year, Congress passed the Communication Satellite Act with the aim of affirming the rights of private companies to own and operate commercial satellites.
The technology used in the space industry is inherently dual use in character. For instance, ballistic missiles can be used to carry nuclear warheads; however, the same technology can also be used for civilian purposes to launch satellites into space. Likewise, satellites orbiting the Earth can fulfill civilian functions such as supplying global positioning and navigation information, capturing satellite imagery to detect wildfires, and providing access to the internet in remote locations. However, the same technologies behind these functions – and sometimes even the same satellites – are increasingly used for military purposes. For example, they can provide early warning of missile attacks, immediate damage assessments, and the identification of enemy targets via satellite imagery. They can also enable real-time data exchange on thebattlefield to synchronize military operations involving multiple units.
The first demonstration of the successful integration of space-based assets into a military operation occurred during the Gulf War in 1991 – also widely referred to as “the first space war.” The US Armed Forces heavily relied on both civilian and military satellites for navigation, communication, intelligence collection, and missile guidance. In particular, the reliance on the US Global Positioning System (GPS) highlighted inherent issues with the dualuse character of most technologies in the space domain.