Weve been sending a lot of hardware (and people) up into space recently, particularly because Elon Musk has started delivering team members to the ISS in addition to all of the cargo and satellites he ships into orbit. The Air Force Research Laboratory recently launched a report urging the new United States Space Force to prepare for possible military action outside of our atmosphere. As the competitors in the new space race warms up and we come closer to potentially colonizing the moon and eventually Mars, the possibility for armed dispute over brand-new area and resources actually cant be overlooked. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) launched their “A Primer on Cislunar Space” to the public in late June, with the report specifically being directed towards military workers– especially the Space Force– to begin developing strategies to expand the force into the cislunar area. What if the conflict moves considerably beyond that orbit and out into cislunar space or even to the moon and Mars?
The main concern weve had with the militarization of area so far has actually mainly fixated the capability of other nations (and the United States) to potentially begin getting satellites in low Earth orbit, disrupting navigation systems and communications. The technology to do that currently exists, and the Americans, in addition to the Chinese and Russians have actually established such concealed programs.
What if the dispute moves substantially beyond that orbit and out into cislunar space or even to the moon and Mars? Were also rather advanced when it comes to combating in the air and even under the water. Space is another ballgame totally.
The vacuum of area is instantaneous death for unprotected humans. And the ships we send into deep space tend to be very vulnerable things due to the need to reduce the weight of anything raising off from Earth. Exploding or even disabling any of the craft we presently utilize wouldnt take much in the way of offending innovation. The exact same may be stated for the lunar surface area. Even if we build pressurized domes full of breathable air for humans to operate in, popping a couple of victories of them likely wouldnt take much effort and after that the team of that station would be doomed.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) released their “A Primer on Cislunar Space” to the public in late June, with the report specifically being directed towards military personnel– particularly the Space Force– to begin developing strategies to expand the force into the cislunar area. Up up until now, the entirety of the USSFs operations have actually been conducted on Earth or in its geostationary range, which is where satellites being in orbit, however the primer mentions that this series of interest will start to increase tenfold as space operations from the U.S. public and private sectors begin. The report is comprehensive and technical, detailing the effects of the celestial bodies gravity and orbits as well as sensors utilized to efficiently keep an eye on the area.
The AFRLs goal with the report was to “motivate and inform”, according to Director of Space Vehicles Directorate Col. Eric Felt. The Space Force and NASA have given that entered an agreement of cooperation regarding cislunar technological development, a more current example being the space tracking experiment “Cislunar Highway Patrol System”.
The report recommends that as space innovation continues to develop and the reality of area colonization efforts grow closer, competition between nations will become inevitable.
We currently send self-governing and remote-controlled craft out into area. Our foes would simply send out their own to return the favor.
Science fiction is full of tales of fleets of area cruisers charging into fight amongst the stars or raining destruction down on enemy planets from above. The reality of human technology in the 2020s is far from coming close to any such situations. While it may pain us to say it, were probably much better off figuring out a way to reserve our differences once we leave the environment and simply ignore each other if we cant find a way to comply.
Weve been sending out a great deal of hardware (and individuals) up into space just recently, particularly because Elon Musk has begun providing team members to the ISS in addition to all of the cargo and satellites he ships into orbit. And were not alone. The Chinese are now dealing with their own spaceport station and the Russians appear to be partnering with them. For many years, weve done a fairly excellent job of keeping space outside of the political realm and weve even partnered up with a few of our terrestrial adversaries sometimes. However is that concerning an end? The Air Force Research Laboratory recently released a report prompting the new United States Space Force to prepare for possible military action beyond our atmosphere. As the competitors in the brand-new space race warms up and we come closer to possibly colonizing the moon and eventually Mars, the possibility for armed conflict over brand-new territory and resources really cant be neglected. (The Debrief).
