![]() ![]() Space-based systems impact environment and agriculture, transport, communications, scientific research and banking. The use of space-enabled products is available to anyone with a GPS gadget or a wifi connection.Īnd it is now an expanding big business in its own right, currently estimated at 350 billion euros. Today, the most powerful space-lift rocket belongs to a commercial actor, SPACE-X. Arguably, space-enabled technologies have significantly accelerated the speed of communications thereby mitigating the tyranny of distance.Įxclusive but democratic – Space had been a very strategic and exclusive domain dominated by a few great powers, until it became increasingly competitive. In addition to the 2,000-odd satellites currently spread out from 160 km low-Earth orbit to 36,000 km high-Earth orbit, at least some 500,000 pieces and counting of debris orbit the Earth, of which 20-30,000 could cause damage.įar but here – Space seems far away and unreachable but it has immediate impact on everyday life, from banking and agriculture to weather forecasts and television.Īnd it is not that far – the Karman line, which is commonly viewed as the limit where aerospace ends and space begins, is only 100 km from the surface of the Earth. (Located 35,786 kilometres above Earth's equator, geostationary orbit allows satellites to match Earth's rotation, which is very useful for monitoring weather, communications and surveillance.) Geostationary orbit in particular is a finite resource, as are electromagnetic frequencies for data transmission. Currently, an estimated 2,000 active satellites are in orbit and hundreds of satellites are being built for launch over the next decade. At least 50 different nations and multinational organisations own and operate satellites, including some 15 Allies and an increasing number of commercial, non-governmental actors. This precedent effectively established space as a global commons, akin to open seas, and led to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which, among other things, outlawed the deployment of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction in space.Įmpty but crowded – Space is vast and empty, but its useful part – the one closest to earth – is increasingly crowded, congested, contested and competitive. While the launch of ‘Sputnik’ in 1957 was seen as a victory for the Soviet Union, it established an important precedent of peaceful passage of satellites over the Earth: the Americans took no action when the ‘Sputnik’ passed over the territory of the United States, nor did the Soviets when the American satellites started passing over their territory. Space has been the domain in which the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States was the most spectacular and breath-taking – but also remarkably peaceful. Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) technology was essential for both – the nuclear race and the space race. It was intimately linked to nuclear deterrence since the early days of the Cold War. ![]() By studying space, humans as a species came to learn about their own habitat.Įven in security and defence terms, space is not exactly ‘new’. Space has been captivating human imagination for centuries. New but old – Although NATO declared space as a ‘new’ operational domain, there is not much new about space. Space is a unique physical realm that can be characterised by a number of paradoxes. Coincidentally, France has also adopted its first Defence Space Strategy, and is set to reorganise its Air Force into Air and Space Force. Some of the underlying factors that drove the decision to create the USSF, also influenced the Alliance’s decisions on space policy and space domain. In fact, these were deliberated Allied decisions preceded by and based on years of careful and thorough reflection and debate. There was some speculation in the media that this flurry of space activity at NATO had been triggered by President Trump’s initiative to establish a United States Space Force (USSF). And in December 2019, Allied leaders welcomed the recognition of space as a new operational domain – alongside air, land, sea and cyberspace. Less than a year later, NATO defence ministers agreed such a policy. In July 2018, at the Brussels Summit, Allied leaders recognised that space is a highly dynamic and rapidly evolving area, which is essential to a coherent Alliance deterrence and defence posture, and agreed to develop an overarching NATO Space policy. The priority for the Alliance, at that time, was Afghanistan. Only a decade ago, most Allies were not prepared for a discussion about space in NATO, and there was no obvious need for it. When I joined NATO staff in 2012, space would only come up in a conversation with reference to “office space” (undoubtedly a sensitive matter in and of itself). ![]()
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