While China is making all the headlines in Space Race 2.0, a DC think tank is cautioning policy makers not to forget about the threat posed by Russia in orbit.
The Atlantic Council published a report looking at Russian capabilities in space—and why existing US policy and resilience is not good enough to protect American space assets.
Context: The paper explores four reasons why Moscow may be more likely to escalate confrontations in space.
- Russian concerns about its own vulnerabilities make Russia more likely to misinterpret US actions in orbit as an attempt to disarm Moscow’s military infrastructure—and for the Russians to react accordingly.
- Moscow could go after America’s space assets, to hurt US access to space for data and intelligence, thereby gaining a terrestrial advantage.
- US resilience in the face of an attack might not be enough to deter Russia from escalating actions in orbit.
- Russia may be more willing to accept self-inflicted damage in orbit, for strategic gains.
The report also game-plans how Russia, the US, American allies, and China would likely react during several conflicts in space, including a nuclear detonation in LEO, an anti-satellite attack that generated debris, and attacks on commercial space assets.
Next steps: The Atlantic Council made 15 recommendations, such as:
- Fielding missile-defense capabilities (cough cough Golden Dome) to stop nuclear or ASAT attacks before they start.
- Improve debris-tracking tech, to better navigate a debris-causing event.
- Build relationships with Indian and Chinese officials as intermediaries to Russia, to avoid escalation or misinterpretation in orbit.
Read more: Dive deeper into the full 88-page report here.
Top Space Lawmaker on Moon Base, Artemis Plans
“What I have heard from colleagues is they’re really rallying behind the idea of going to the Moon,” he told Payload. “Once we establish a base there…that might be the best place to launch to Mars.”
With Artemis Changes, Europe is Left Holding the Bag
ESA and European space primes were developing many of the key components of the planned lunar orbiting station.
Commerce Unveils One-Stop Licensing Proposal For Novel Space Missions
The plan is the latest step in the years-long saga surrounding mission authorization—or which agencies have regulatory authority over novel space missions that don’t fit into the existing framework.
Ramon.Space, Ingrasys Aim To Fly Prototype Orbital Data Center In 2027
There’s another entry in the space-data-center race.
Why build a new satellite, when you can buy one already in orbit?
At least, that was the mentality of officials at HEO, an Australian non-Earth imaging (NEI) startup that announced the purchase of Satellogic’s NewSat-34 yesterday.
The move is a new take on sovereignty. While other national organizations have invested in developing and building new sovereign remote sensing capabilities from scratch, Australia has gained immediate access to sub-meter resolution imagery with the shake of a hand.
Keep reading