Where in Physical Space Will the Space Force Be Focused?

Addressing the environment in the lower earth orbit in particular is most likely necessary to facilitate the smooth, legal and effective operation of key aspects of human activity in space.

With the spread of technology across countries, and the development of many countries’ space capabilities, besides being a military and commercial domain, there are of course also diplomatic, civilian (exploration and tourism), scientific (exploration and information) and other key aspects of the domain of space.

Protecting the Space Domain From Space Pirates, Hostile Nations and Rogue Elements

I recently wrote an article, Space Pirates Are a Problem, which presented information from a congressional hearing on space policy that reviewed issues that may be presented by space pirates and hostile or rogue nations.

Will the Focus of Space Force and Any Space Pirates’ Activity First Be in Low Earth Orbit?

With the expansion of the technological capabilities of humanity, we now have both the military element and the business elements becoming more active in the range of orbits of this planet. This includes their associated assets and information transmission and reception between assets and with the Earth.

This means physical and technical assets, human beings, communications and pathways of travel in need of protection. Proper function of activities in Earth’s orbits require:

1. Safety of assets in orbit and passing through orbit,
2. Clear ownership and honoring ownership of physical and technical assets,
3. Protection and security of human beings present,
4. Rules of use for assets in orbit,
5. Access to pathways through orbit,
6. Access to levels of orbit,
7. Security of transmission and reception of information between assets, and
8. Security of transmission and reception of information between assets and the Earth.

Initially, will most of space activity in the near term likely occur in lower earth orbit? This is the domain of most satellite activity, and the domain of new proposed global satellite networks.

Lower Earth Orbit is a Gateway

With many countries and companies working on new satellite networks, keeping the peace and maintaining competitive position both militarily and commercially will be key.

In addition, low earth orbit is the physical gateway to higher orbits around Earth (MEO, medium earth orbit, and HEO, high earth orbit).

Low earth orbit is also a physical gateway for exit routes to leave the planet, such as venturing outward for scientific exploration, or undertaking commercial activity like traveling to asteroids for mining activity.

Check out my other articles Space Force articles, here.

~ Susan at Solaris Modalis

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Article Notes:

Image of earth orbits is by Rrakanishu and is CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons license. This image has been altered by cropping it’s size smaller than the original image.

© 2019 Solaris Modalis. All Rights Reserved.  Permission is given to share this article on other blogs and websites as long as the text is posted in its entirety without alteration and with the accompanying photos, and with the author’s credit, copyright and live website links included in the article. All photographs and videos created by Solaris Modalis are not retouched or manipulated; color edits to images are specifically indicated if presented. Original publish date June 7, 2019. This article was originally published at https://solarismodalis.com/will-the-focus-of-space-force-first-be-in-low-earth-orbit.

The post Will the Focus of Space Force First Be in Low Earth Orbit? appeared first on Solaris Modalis.

As much as we can have fun with this concept and joke about it, the potential for space pirates’ activity in the burgeoning space industry is already a problem.

This was confirmed at a Senate hearing in May, 2019.

Solaris News and Commentary: Space Pirates are a Problem

At the public space policy meeting on May 14, 2019, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space, held a hearing on The Emerging Space Environment: Operational, Technical, and Policy Challenges, which included several prestigious guests who are experts in military and civilian American space policy.

The theme of this meeting was about coordinating policy efforts and activities between civilian and military groups.

At the hearing, he also spoke these words:

• Since the ancient Greeks first put to sea, nations have recognized the necessity of naval forces and maintaining a superior capability to protect water borne travel and commerce from bad actors.  Pirates threaten the open seas, and the same in possible in space.      ~ Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator on May 14, 2019

A Space Force is Necessary, Because… Pirates

After Senator Cruz made his introductory points, the head of NASA concurred with his sentiments.

Although Administrator Bridenstine did not detail the incidents, he did confirm  that advancing current commercial space development efforts have shown “that is not always safe”.

• We are in a place now, where NASA is working really hard to help advance and develop commerce in space, and ultimately what we are seeing, unfortunately, is that that is not always safe.      ~ Jim Bridenstine, Administrator, NASA on May 14, 2019

The implication here is that incidents have already occurred that show that protection of key American assets in space is at a critical juncture.

Space is a Military and Commercial Domain

American policy considers space as a domain. In military terms, this means a space, physical or non-physical, worth fighting for.

Per Merriam-Webster, a domain is:

1. A territory over which dominion is exercised, and
2. (Law) Complete and absolute ownership of land.

While domain has referred to land in law, it has been expanded expanded in military practice first to address any physical area requiring dominion for the safety and security of the country (land, sea, water); the concept was then extended to address the non-physical domain of cyber technology and now space, including the range of earth orbits.

As Senator Cruz said in his opening remarks:

• From efforts to foster the growth of the commercial space sector, to the return of American astronauts to the moon in the next few years, to the creation of a Space Force, the space domain is more active than ever.

Links: Will the Focus of Space Force First Be in Low Earth Orbit?

Where Is the Pirate Threat Coming From?

The threats of piracy is coming from advancing the extent of the space domain to fuller use by our military and commercial elements.

Senator Cruz explained the size of the opportunity during his comments at the policy meeting:

• By some estimates, the space sector will grow to nearly $3 trillion in value in the next three decades alone.”.      ~ Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator on May 14, 2019

I believe that Senator Cruz chose his words carefully, and he used the notion of space pirates to illustrate a point; that we are dealing with a lawless force and one out for purely self-serving gain.

• As the United States looks to foster the commercialization of space, return to the Moon, travel to Mars, and encourage burgeoning industries such as asteroid mining, in which a small asteroid could contain rare materials such as platinum worth billions, a Space Force may well prove necessary to help provide certainty in ensuring that these efforts are successful, have longevity, and are not to be subjected to the whims of rogue or hostile nations.      ~ Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator on May 14, 2019

This piracy element may or may not be represented by the recognized nations of the world, but by rogue or hostile elements within them, or by elements comprising an entirely new concept of what a nation really is.

Just as maritime non-state actors – also known as pirates – represent a threat on the open seas of the planet, space non-state actors are potentially a threat as well, and unknown instances have apparently proven this to key individuals in American commercial, military and government space efforts.

Check out my other articles Space Force articles, here.

~ Susan at Solaris Modalis

I am an independent content creator. Your support means a great deal to me.

If you liked it, please share this article on social media, forums or email, this really helps me.

Please join my mailing list at Get the News – Join the Crew! so you can:

1) Get a monthly update listing all my content in one place;

2) Stay in touch independent of social media practices and policies;

3) Receive news on upcoming courses and new content; and

4) Get my monthly summary of the energies and events this month.

Article Notes:

Featured image of a pirate in space is a free license images combination of photographs from Unsplash.com by Scott Umstatt and Nick Owuor.

Image of earth orbits is by Rrakanishu and is CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons license. This image has been altered by cropping it’s size smaller than the original image.

© 2019 Solaris Modalis. All Rights Reserved.  Permission is given to share this article on other blogs and websites as long as the text is posted in its entirety without alteration and with the accompanying photos, and with the author’s credit, copyright and live website links included in the article. Original publish date June 4, 2019. This article was originally published at https://solarismodalis.com/space-pirates-are-a-problem-call-space-force.

The post Space Pirates are a Problem appeared first on Solaris Modalis.