Space isn’t just the final frontier. It’s also a possible new frontier for warfare. The United States and China are ramping up capabilities to disable each other’s satellites. A new Stimson Center collection of essays released on Tuesday, Anti-Satellite Weapons, Deterrence and Sino-American Space Relations, explores how developments in space will reflect and shape the mix of competition and cooperation between Washington and Beijing.
Satellites are force multipliers. The Pentagon already depends on them greatly; the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will depend increasingly on them in the future. Satellites back up and enable all U.S. military operations, everywhere, at all times. They help protect soldiers in harm’s way. They provide intelligence, targeting support, damage assessments, communications, early warning, and weather forecasts that are essential for all military missions abroad.
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