The Role of Space Power in Modern Society

The human presence in orbit is one of the biggest achievements for scientific development, expanding the desire for discovery and exploration. The 21st century brought many transformations in terms of technology and space knowledge.

The importance of being able to launch satellites in space, particularly in Low Earth orbit – the area around the Earth where satellites circulate at an altitude of less than 1000 km from Earth – brought changes in every aspect of civil life in all the countries. Space is a fundamental source for national property and richness. It is in fact the presence of satellites and their mindful use that allowed the beginning of this majestic technology development in modern society. Satellite communication is very useful among many aspects of life: economy, aviation and maritime navigation, mobile communication worldwide and military communication.

They also provide access to specific data and information that would be very hard to reach without their presence in space. For example in finance, it is possible to capture precise time- stamping of financial transactions in global time, distributed by the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). And more, for activism projects like Net Zero — it consists in balancing the amount of greenhouses gases produced by human activities and the amount removed from the atmosphere — and Environmental and Social Governance, it is necessary to have specific and detailed information about climate change, which is possible only by analysing data from space: the vast majority of environmental measurements require Earth Observation satellites. 

The concept of space power and New Space era

Space power is defined as the combination of capabilities, technologies and strategies that enable the exploitation of space for military, economic, scientific or geopolitical purposes.

A big shift in terms of space power expansion happened right after the end of the Cold War, because it has been possible for the first time to make private investments in space. For this reason we are now part of this new era called “New Space”, which massively impacted our society. New Space era is characterised by‬‭ the‬‭ expansion‬‭ of‬‭ downstream‬‭ services‬‭ using‬‭ data‬‭ derived‬‭ from‬ satellites,‬‭ the‬‭ raise of‬‭ launch‬‭ companies‬‭ and‬‭ private‬‭ small‬ satellite‬‭ constellations, space tourism and‬‭ a‬‭ wave‬‭ of‬ venture‬‭ capital‬‭ finance‬‭. ‭New Space‬‭ also brought drastic‬‭ reductions‬‭ in ‬the‬‭ cost‬‭ of‬‭ launch, the downscaling‬‭ of‬‭ satellites’ size‬‭ and‬ a new approach to space open to everybody, with the expansion of the private sector.

Military satellites 

Space is also used for military reasons. The first rocket sent into space was the German V2 missile directed at the British Army in 1944. The presence of satellites for military reasons exploded with the Cold War, during which period of time was called “Space Race”. 

On an international level, we are living in a time characterised by a serious lack of law and agreements in terms of traffic in orbit. Right now, it is impossible to have a clear definition of space weaponisation and it is one of the most debated topics in academic and government circles. 

The First Gulf War of 1991 is considered as the first space war because the Coalition forces used satellites for military communication and ISTAR — Intelligence, Surveillance, Target, Acquisition and Reconnaissance — showing to the adversaries their lack of knowledge and starting a competition for technological superiority on  an international level.

Nowadays, the attachment to space of the armed forces is clear. In 2017 Gen. Sir Chris Deverell – Commander of UK Joint Forces Command declared that: « 90% of the platforms and systems that constitute the UK military equipment programme are dependent on space to some degree ». Military forces would not be able to conduct major combat operations without access to space-based platforms. Military operations without access to space satellites would be limited and slowed down.

Space power has become an instrument for supremacy for advanced countries and a proper source of strategic advantage. Due to its fundamental role, it is now important to start discussing rules about finding balance in this peculiar relationship. The big crowd of satellites should inspire international cooperation, more than  creating tensions and instability. Policymakers and governments inevitably will be forced to resolve, with ever more frequency, space power issues during the next few years. The most intelligent move right now should be establishing serious rules for this field. Indeed, the ambitious act of improving the technological patrimony of each country should be interpreted as a way to expand human knowledge, instead of being blinded by winning this new battle of invisible supremacy. 

John Sheldon and Colin S. Gray are two academics in strategic theory and they defined space power as « the ability in peace, crisis or war to exert prompt and sustained influence in and from space ». Speaking of peace, during the past few years,  space has been democratised very rapidly, followed by an increase in the application of space solutions to a wide range of problems – for example, in support of the development assistance programmes and customer or market requirements.

The three ways of use of space power 

The application of space power in geopolitics takes three key forms. 

The first form of space power is perceived as an indirect, soft and often speculative use, referring to those activities with the purpose of influencing events and advancing a country’s political statement. There are many examples of this type of use:

• Monitoring data and transformation in our environment 

• Analysing the scientific measurements necessary to track the actual progression of climate change, which can only be made from space. 

• Verifying countries’ environmental commitments and identifying carbon emissions 

• Monitoring civil space activities of each country that use space achievements to increase their international prestige. Space issues are now a topic discussed globally, as they are mentioned in G7 or G20 meetings. 

• Participating  in space diplomacy itself, advocating the regulatory and legal questions of the international space regime , which is negotiated at various levels in the United Nations (UN) system. 

The second use is direct, strategic and non-military, meaning that space technology is used for achieving specific goals, such as increasing prosperity inside a country and building and influence abroad. 

In 2016, the Chinese government launched the Space Silk Road concept, also known as the ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Space Information Corridor’.

The People’s Republic of China offered to all the countries involved in the BRI initiative access to its satellite data, partnerships in building satellites and support with developing space value chains for these nations, such as space ground infrastructure. However, all the states part of the ‘Space Information Corridor’ would  become codependent on Chinese space services. PRC’s Space Silk Road enables a whole space applications and data ecosystem that eventually becomes central to economic performance and public services in a given country. 

The last application of space power is connected to its impact in the global military balances. Modern military operations require communications, for battlefield and beyond the horizon connectivity; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), for targeting; and navigation for precision strike. Obviously without the work of satellites it would not be possible to fulfill these needs at a very fast period of time. For communication, we can quote as an example the Starlink satellite broadband, which is used by Ukraine to share targeting data quickly, for artillery fire.

Space-based ISR — Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance — has become essential  as a support in military operations by identifying and locating enemy units – and generally making the battlefield clean and secure.

As we know, the opportunities that space can offer are infinite. It is stuck in our brain for its beauty and mystery. However it is fundamental to understand that civilisation is something to be believed and protected even outside the planet Earth, to avoid conflicts and tensions. 

Yours truly,

Alice Coppini

Writer, Writers Team

Sources:

Geostrategy. “The Role of Space Power in Geopolitical Competition.” Geostrategy, 2023. https://www.geostrategy.org.uk/research/the-role-of-space-power-in-geopolitical-competition/