Are we militarizing space?
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/07/14/are-we-militarizing-space-n402188  Weve been sending a lot of hardware (and people) up into space recently, particularly since Elon Musk has started delivering crew members to the ISS in addition to all of the cargo and satellites he ships into orbit. And were not alone. The Chinese are now working on their own space station and the Russians seem to be teaming up with them. Over the years, weve done a fairly good job of keeping space outside of the political realm and weve even partnered up with some of our terrestrial adversaries at times. The Air Force Research Laboratory recently released a report urging the new United States Space Force to prepare for possible military action outside of our atmosphere. As the competition in the new space race heats up and we come closer to potentially colonizing the moon and eventually Mars, the possibility for armed conflict over new territory and resources really cant be ignored. (The Debrief)  The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) released their A Primer on Cislunar Space to the public in late June, with the report specifically being directed towards military personnelparticularly the Space Forceto begin developing plans to expand the force into the cislunar area. Up until now, the entirety of the USSFs operations have been conducted on Earth or in its geostationary range, which is where satellites sit in orbit, but the primer states that this range of interest will begin to increase tenfold as space operations from the U.S. private and public sectors begin. The report is comprehensive and technical, detailing the effects of the celestial bodies gravity and orbits as well as sensors used to effectively monitor the region. The AFRLs goal with the report was to educate and inspire, according to Director of Space Vehicles Directorate Col. Eric Felt. The Space Force and NASA have since entered an agreement of cooperation regarding cislunar technological development, a more recent example being the space monitoring experiment Cislunar Highway Patrol System. The report suggests that as space technology continues to develop and the reality of space colonization efforts grow closer, competition between nations will become inevitable. The primary concern weve had with the militarization of space thus far has mostly centered on the ability of other nations (and the United States) to potentially start taking out satellites in low Earth orbit, disrupting navigation systems and communications. The technology to do that already exists, and the Americans, along with the Chinese and Russians have developed such covert programs. (Cislunar means the space between the Earth and the moon.) Humans have gotten pretty good at fighting on land. Were also quite advanced when it comes to fighting in the air and even under the water. But space is another ballgame entirely. If your jeep gets shot out from under you during battle and you survive the hit, you can get out and walk. If your fighter jet has a wing blown off, you can hit the ejection switch and deploy a parachute. If things go badly for you in a naval battle, theres at least the possibility of a lifeboat. But the vacuum of space is instant death for unprotected humans. And the ships we send out into the void tend to be very fragile things due to the need to minimize the weight of anything lifting off from Earth. Blowing up or even disabling any of the craft we currently use wouldnt take much in the way of offensive technology. The same might be said for the lunar surface. Even if we build pressurized domes full of breathable air for humans to work in, popping a few holes in one of them likely wouldnt take much effort and then the crew of that station would be doomed. Of course, all of that assumes that were talking about manned missions. We already send autonomous and remote-controlled craft out into space. Our adversaries would just send out their own to return the favor. Science fiction is full of tales of fleets of space cruisers charging into battle among the stars or raining destruction down on enemy planets from above. But the reality of human technology in the 2020s is far from coming close to any such scenarios. While it may pain us to say it, were probably better off figuring out a way to set aside our differences once we leave the atmosphere and simply ignore each other if we cant find a way to cooperate. Share this: Twitter  Facebook