Evolution of U.S. space strategy in the face of growing rivalry with China and Russia.

The prospect of engaging in battles in space, as an extension of wars that may be fought on Earth, seeking to interfere with the capabilities provided by satellites, has led the Trump Administration to promote a specific division of the US Armed Forces dedicated to this domain, the US Space Force. Although its constitution has yet to be approved by the congress, the new Pentagon component is already going to have its budget.

▲ The X-37B orbiter vehicle in operations at test in 2017, at Kennedy Space [US Air Force].

article / Ane Gil

More than 1,300 active satellites envelop the globe today, providing worldwide communications, GPS navigation, weather forecasting and planetary surveillance. The need to protect them against any attack, which could seriously disrupt the national security of countries, has become a priority for the major powers.

Since he arrived at the White House, Donald Trump has insisted on his idea of creating a Space Force, giving it the same rank as the five existing branches of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard). Trump signed last February 19 the directive for the creation of the US Space Force, whose final approval must still be given at congress. It would be the first military branch to be created in the United States since 1947, when the Air Force was launched. The Pentagon expects it to be operational by 2020.

As already announced almost a year ago by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, this new Space Force will have its own facilities, although for the time being it will draw its support and resources from the Air Force. According to Pence, the goal of the Space Force is to deal with alleged threats from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran in space. Although its ultimate goal is to specifically contain Russia and China, who for some years have already been developing their own methods with which to conquer space.

Obama-era strategic reports

The Trump Administration has called for such a military specialization in space in the face of the skill presented by China and Russia in that same domain, which during the Obama Administration was still embryonic. However, although during Barack Obama's presidency the White House placed less emphasis on military developments in space capabilities, it also sought to promote U.S. presence in space.

In the document National Space Policy of 2010, in a rather inclusive essay , the United States defended the right of all nations to explore space and called for all countries to work together to ensure respectful space activity manager , in a framework of international cooperation. The policy then being set looked primarily to the commercial and civilian dimension of space, in which the US aspired to strengthen its leadership.

The document included, however, a section on security. Thus, it made reference letter to the need to develop and operate information systems and networks that would provide national security coverage, facilitating defense and intelligence operations both in times of peace and in times of crisis and conflict. In addition, it called for the development and implementation of plans, procedures, techniques and capabilities to ensure critical national security missions, using space assets and at the same time taking advantage of non-space capabilities of allied countries or private companies.

What was presented there in a more generic way, the Obama Administration fleshed out in a subsequent strategy document, the National Security Space Strategy (NSSS). National Security Space Strategy of 2011, in which space was presented as a vital area for U.S. national security. The text warned that space is "increasingly congested, contested and competitive", which urged the US to try to maintain its leadership, although without neglecting the international partnership to make space a safe, stable and secure place.

The document then set out strategic objectives and approaches. Specifically, the US proposed to "provide enhanced space capabilities" in order to improve system procurement, reduce the risk of mission failure, increase launch success and system operability, and train national security professionals to support all these space activities.

Another of the stated objectives was to "prevent and deter aggression against the space infrastructure that supports US national security", which as a central element included denying adversaries the significant benefits of an attack by strengthening the resilience of their systems architecture. However, the document specified that the US retains the right to respond in self-defense if deterrence fails.

Precisely in the latter case, the strategic text called for preparing one's capabilities to "defeat attacks and operatives in a degraded environment." It indicated that military and intelligence capabilities must be prepared to "combat" and defeat attacks directed at their space systems and support infrastructure. 

China-Russia rivalry in the Trump era

Donald Trump became president of the United States with his "America First" slogan, which he has also applied to space strategy, prioritizing his country's interests in a context of increased rivalry with Beijing and Moscow. His space policy emphasizes the dynamic and cooperative interaction between the military, civilian and commercial interests, respectively, of the Pentagon, NASA and private companies interested in extra-atmospheric flights. 

The first national security strategy document of the Trump era is the National Security Strategy (NSS) of December 2017. Although report barely makes reference letter to space, the text involves the declaration of "rivals" of China and Russia, giving grounds for the US to confront the opposing interests of those countries, also outside the Earth. The NSS proclaims that the US must maintain its "leadership and freedom of action in space", and warns of the risk of "other actors" achieving the capability to attack US space assets, thus gaining an "asymmetric advantage". "Any harmful interference or attack against critical components of our space architecture that directly affects this vital US interest will be met with a deliberate response in the time, place, manner, and domain of our choosing," the document warns.

Some of these military issues get further elaboration in the report months later produced by the Pentagon. In the April 2018 Space Operations document, the military leadership notes that several nations are making significant advances in offensive space control capabilities, with the intention of challenging the use of space by the US and its allies by threatening their space assets. It therefore advocates the importance of off-ground operations, which have the goal of securing and defending space capabilities against the aggressive activities of others.

"Our adversaries' progress in space technology," notes report, "not only threatens the space environment and our space assets, but may also deny us an advantage if we lose space superiority." To mitigate these risks and threats, the U.S. engages "the planning and conduct of defensive and offensive operations."

The broad outlines of Trump's space policy are set out in the document National Space Strategy of March 2018. It is a policy based on four pillars: reinforcing space architectures; strengthening deterrence and warfighting options; improving foundational capabilities, Structures and processes; and fostering enabling domestic and international environments.

Directives and budget

In addition to the security aspects already noted, the Trump Administration has also expressed a desire to "promote space commerce," for which it will "simplify and update regulations for commercial activity in space to strengthen competitiveness."

For oversight of these activities, which open up the space business to U.S. private companies and at the same time mark a horizon of mineral exploitation of asteroids and planets, Trump revived in June 2017 the committee National Space under the White House, 24 years after it had been disbanded. In December 2017 Trump signed Space Police Directive-1, which ordered NASA to send U.S. astronauts to the Moon once again, and in June 2018 he signed a directive on the management of traffic in space (Space Policy Directive-3). The fourth directive is the one signed in February 2019 for the creation of the Space Force.

Trump's new policy has not been immune to criticism, as it is argued that erecting the Space Force as just another division of the Armed Forces could weaken the resources of the other divisions, putting the country at risk in the face of a possible attack or emergency on Earth. In fact, General James Mattis, Secretary of Defense during 2017 and 2018, publicly expressed some reluctance at first, although he later began to execute the president's plans.

From agreement with the data provided as a result of the recent presentation of the budgets for the next fiscal year, the Space Force could have a staff of 830 people (divided between the Headquarters, the Space Agency development and the Space Command, instances that will require 300 million dollars for their installation) and a budget of about 2,000 million during the first five years. At the end of those five years, it could have a payroll of 15,000 people.