Space and Strategy

An increasing criticism of U.S. space activities – especially, in the context of China’s emergence as a significant actor in human spaceflight and military space activities over the past decade – is that the United States lacks a space strategy. U.S. programs seem to proceed in fits and starts. There are arguments about whether or not to go back to the Moon and how to do so. Heated debates take place in the United States Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) about how best to defend U.S. space assets in a future environment described by the 2011 National Security Space Strategy as “increasingly congested, contested, and competitive.” ² Some analysts argue that the United States has “gone soft” in what will inevitably be a military-dominated competition, where losing will mean facing ultimate submission to a superior and better-organized space power. ³ Gordon Chang argues that China already possesses an effective strategy for space: to “dominate” this new environment. ⁴ Some analysts argue that the United States should have a similar strategy, even at the risk of setting up a titanic struggle for eventual “control” of space. ⁵