ABSTRACT
Historical experience illustrates that states will compete in space, and this competition will result in an assessment of fear, honor, and interest. Based upon this assessment, space powers will develop strategies seeking to that balance desired political ends with available means, and the available means will be predicated, in part, on space-related capabilities commensurate with a space power’s capabilities. This will be true of the space strategies for great or super powers.
This chapter describes great power competition in space—namely the more recent space activities of China, Russia, and the United States—to highlight potential challenges and opportunities for international cooperation. This discussion includes the balanced use of offensive and defensive space strategies to achieve political ends. After gleaning relevant considerations from history, the practical implementation of space strategy is addressed, including the topics of dividing alliances, economic measures, coercion, compellence, “small wars,” and the use of anti-satellite weapons and hunter-killer systems.
