CSIS Defense and Security Department’s Post

TacRS missions enable the #USSPACECOM commander to plan and react quickly. The Victus Haze mission will showcase spacecraft capable of rendezvous and proximity operations, and provide a command and control center, crucial for addressing space threats. 

New Post: A Chinese spacecraft lands on moon’s far side to collect rocks in growing space rivalry with US - https://lnkd.in/g4AV6Aes - A Chinese spacecraft has landed on the moon’s far side to collect rocks in a growing space rivalry with U.S. The official Xinhua News Agency says the landing module touched down Sunday morning Beijing time - #news #business #world -------------------------------------------------- Download: Stupid Simple CMS - https://lnkd.in/g4y9XFgR -------------------------------------------------- or download at SourceForge - https://lnkd.in/gNqB7dnp

#Space industry seeks clarity on #defense market plans Space industry executives and investors at a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce event grappled with unanswered questions on the Pentagon’s plans to commercialize activities and increase its reliance on private-sector technologies. Business leaders said they see bright spots in the defense market such as the Space Development Agency (SDA), which is buying hundreds of commercial satellites to build out a proliferated low Earth orbit constellation for military communication and missile tracking. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gMyvYfG2 #space #spaceforce #spaceforceassociation #military #defense

🚀🔥 **Disrupting the Skies: The Pentagon's Bold Step Away from Russian Rocket Engines!** 🔥🚀 In a monumental milestone, the Pentagon has phased out its reliance on Russian RD-180 rocket engines! After a decade-long initiative, United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed its final mission using this technology, transitioning to entirely American launch systems. 🇺🇸✨ The Atlas V rocket lifted off on its concluding mission, delivering a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force, marking the end of an era in national security space operations. As innovation accelerates, how will this shift impact the future of U.S. space missions? This pivotal change signals a commitment to self-reliance and advancing domestic capabilities. With launches now fully in U.S. hands, we’re amplifying national security and fostering growth in the aerospace industry. How do you perceive the importance of such a strategic move? 👍 or 👎? Let’s champion innovation in our industries! #SpaceInnovation #NationalSecurity #Aerospace #TechDisruption #UDLA #USA #RocketLaunch #DefenseIndustry #SpaceForce #InnovationInTechnology #FutureOfSpace Curious for more? Drop your thoughts below! 💬

France is getting serious about space defense. In addition to the Graves Radar for targeting, France is waiting to launch its first YODA patrol satellite in a near-GEO orbit. It has also initiated the TOUTATIS demonstration to launch the Splinter and LiSA-1 demonstration satellites in LEO. Splinter looks like a laser demonstrator, and LiSA-1 is an NEI satellite. France's military programming law through 2030 has a project called BLOOMLASE for a ground-based laser blinder and FLAMHE for an orbital laser system. I'm glad France is revealing what it is doing to aid with deterrence. https://lnkd.in/eBAdmkTZ

🚀 New Article Published! 🚀 Thrilled to share my latest piece on The Jamestown Foundation, exploring China’s ambitious plan to become a global leader in space science by 2050. Beyond scientific aspirations, the plan holds strategic significance. - Military strategists see commercial space as an essential strategic force for future conflicts, noting the deep integration of commercial space assets in modern warfare. - The new plan will likely serve military purposes by facilitating research on dual-use technologies, such as space weather monitoring. - The possibility of misperception and conflict will grow as the PRC begins to narrow the gap in its space capabilities with the United States. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e3h3jN4U Special thanks to my friend and editor Arran Hope for his valuable input.🥳 #SpaceScience #China #PLA #USChinaRelations #CommercialSpace #DualUseTechnologies #StrategicCompetition #SpaceTechnology #MilitaryStrategy

“Both military and civilian players are already eyeing opportunities from the satellite belt all the way to the Moon and outward. This is the era of astropolitics. Like geopolitics, its basis is in geography. Outer space is not featureless — it has regions of intense radiation to be navigated, oceans of distance to cross, superhighways where a planet’s gravity can accelerate spaceships, strategic corridors in which to place military and commercial equipment, and land rich in natural resources. All this attracts the attention of the big powers, who will try to establish and maintain an advantage”. In short, militarization. Read the third and final installment of the celestial rivalries series below:  https://lnkd.in/gG4FSFU9

Space Force Is Planning a Military Exercise in Orbit - WIRED "This threat scenario could involve a satellite performing maneuvers that approach a US spacecraft or a satellite doing something else unusual or unexpected. In such a scenario, the Space Force wants to have the capability to respond, either to deter an adversary from taking action or to defend a US satellite from an attack." At Calian Group we integrate the latest lessons learned into our training exercise development and delivery. Assumptions about the character of future warfare and how "Great Power Competition" will look next month - or next year - are always shifting. Our training team integrates the latest real-world research and analysis into high-readiness military training, preparing militaries for whatever operational challenges they are training for. Read about how we are integrating lessons learned into current training exercises here: @https://lnkd.in/ewFp4wh7 #warfare #space #defence #defense #satellites #cyberdefence #satellitewarfare #spacedefence #defencespace Note: Articles posted or shared on this Calian Defence Solutions site are for informational purposes only. Any views or opinions expressed herein are those of the articles’ authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Calian Group. https://hubs.li/Q02tCjBJ0

"Space rarely garners attention in party platforms, but it is an increasingly important arena of international competition, and potentially conflict. Once safely protected by two seas and secure boarders, America is increasingly vulnerable to threats from abroad, many of them celestial in nature. Oceans and border defenses are irrelevant to these new weapons. China and Russia have significant space capabilities and unsavory schemes for dominance. Russia is developing and perhaps deploying orbital space weapons. China is working hard to beat America back to the moon. We are once again in a Cold War with an accompanying Space Race. To win, we must counter the space ambitions of aggressor states, while leading the free world forward to prosperity on the final frontier."

It didn't take long to Isaacman to align himself on the thunderous communication skills of the Trump / Musk space doctrine. Now, leaving aside the numerous questions raised about the likeliness, the feasibility, the relevance and the effectiveness of space troopers in the coming years or decades, the deployment of military personnel in outer space opens another battlefront for the preservation of international space law. After the concept of space freedom used to justify the deployment of mega-constellations, after the issue of appropriability of space resources and of the applicability of national to outer space, it is now up to Article IV of the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty to be put to the test of an opportunistic interpretation. "States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner. The moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited." For almost 60 years now, we live with the risk to see the word "peaceful" opening the door to war. Because peace doesn't only refer to justice, or to freedom. Peace is the result of war. We make war to make peace. At least, some do. And they are in charge. Read it again: Article IV can mean one thing and its opposite; it can prohibit warfare in outer space while justifying battleship in orbit or weapons on the Moon (after all, what's a "weapon" if not a soldier's equipment?). Beyond this, what's left of the UN Outer Space Treaty after being torn apart by self-focused national-centered visions? As a European citizen, I'm baffled to see how war is perceived today so differently on one side of the Atlantic from the other. The European Union sees war at its gates; the US prepare for war in outer space. At the very moment we are commemorating, in Belgium, together with US and other countries' veterans, families and friends, the Battle of the Bulge where so many human lives were lost or deeply affected, the gap seems widening between historic allies, but also between leaders and people, between the real stakes for humankind and our oblivious obsession for growth.