Tailoring Deterrence For China In Space

The authors examine the application of classical deterrence theory to the space domain and argue that to build a tailored deterrence strategy for China in space, China's own objectives should be considered.

Drawing on Chinese military writings, this report finds that China’s strategic-deterrence concepts are evolving in response to Beijing’s changing assessment of its external security environment and a growing emphasis on protecting its emerging interests in space and cyberspace. China also is rapidly closing what was once a substantial gap between the People’s Liberation Army’s strategic weapons capabilities and its strategic-deterrence concepts.

China is emerging as a major global and regional player that will likely play a part in U.S. foreign policy well into the 21st century. A better understanding of China's interests, as well as its economic and military capabilities, will assist in crisis prevention and war avoidance. This report examines the applicability of deterrence theory to the future Sino-U.S relationship and examines the particular requirements that deterrence of China might impose. This report is part of a larger project entitled "Chinese Defense Modernization and the USAF," which is being conducted in the Strategy and Doctrine Program of Project AIR FORCE under the sponsorship of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations.

MacDonald recommends options and policies that will promote options and policies that will promote American security interests in space. He argues that the U.S. needs to take priority defensive military space measures to offset potential Chinese anti-satellite and related capabilities.

If China's space ambitions continue unchallenged, America will be seriously economically and militarily disadvantaged. This book provides a comprehensive strategy to secure U.S. primacy in the space domain. From Moon landings to plans for asteroid mining, China is beginning to exploit space to achieve its great power ambitions. Its strategy could, over time, severely and adversely impact U.S. economic and military security. The United States needs to structure its approach to space to ensure that it can meet or surpass PRC timelines. Authors Richard M. Harrison and Peter A. Garretson, both from the American Foreign Policy Council, review the literature on Chinese space ambitions and assess U.S. space-related initiatives across the government, military, and private sector to understand the maturity of technology available to support space initiatives. Their first-hand research and findings are supplemented by interviews with industry experts, corporate space leaders, and government and military officials. The Next Space Race describes and seeks to influence the development of American space policy to ensure the U.S. industrial base is ready to meet or surpass PRC milestones, empower and clarify the mission of the newly minted Space Force, provide guidance to NASA and other federal agencies, and incentivize private sector companies to contribute to ensuring American space primacy.

This book is focused on militarization as the nucleus of EU space policy and the interrelatedness of European security, industrial competitiveness, and military capabilities in the shaping of this policy. The EU and key member states have increasingly joined the US, China and Russia, among others, in regarding space assets as critical military, as well as economic, industrial, and technological, enablers. This book tackles this issue by, first, shedding light on the military aspects of EU space policy, with special emphasis on the security and defence dimensions of projects such as Galileo, Copernicus, Space Situational Awareness, and Satellite Communication. In this context, contributors confront the empirical aspect of developments, including the role of different institutional actors and the involvement of specific member states. Further, the volume analyses the discursive, ideological, normative, and theoretical foundations of the use of space by the EU for strategic purposes, drawing on the broad spectrum of European integration/International Relations theory. Last, but not least, the volume discusses initiatives outside the EU by key global space players, with an emphasis on the US and transatlantic space relations. All chapters maintain a solid empirical foundation, in the form of geographical or issue-related focus, with an area-specific emphasis on the EU as a whole, transatlantic relations, the policies of key member states (such as France and Italy), and core space powers such as the US, China and India. This book will be of much interest to students of space power, security studies, European politics and International Relations.

This book examines the rise of great power competition in space, including the relevant and practical space strategies for China, Russia, the United States, and other countries. The work discusses the concepts and writings of past strategists, such as Thucydides, Sun Tzu, and Clausewitz, in relation to warfare initiated in or extending into space. This analysis underscores why polities initiate war based upon an assessment of fear, honor, and interest, and explains why this will also be true of war in space. Based upon the timeless strategic writings of the past, the book uncovers the strategy of space warfare, along with the concepts of deterrence, dissuasion, and the inherent right of self-defense, and outlines strategies for great, medium, and emerging space powers. Additionally, it highlights changes needed to space strategy based upon the Law of Armed Conflict, norms of behavior, and Rules of Engagement. The work also examines advancements and emerging trends in the commercial space sector, as well as what these changes mean for the implementation of a practical space strategy. Given the rise of great power competition in space, this work presents a space strategy based upon historical experience. This book will be of much interest to students of space policy, strategic studies, and International Relations.