The road to space warfare
No battles have been fought in space so far, and many bodies want to prevent it
Jan Wörner
“space should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes”
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a US nonprofit organisation founded more than 50 years ago by scientists and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Russia has more than 170 satellites in orbit, of which about
100 are military. Using data from Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, it’s estimated that annual spending on the development of Russia’s military satellite constellation – satellites, launch vehicles and launches – is $1 billion (£730 million). Spending on the Russian space navigation system GLONASS, currently made up of 27 satellites, in 2019 was $437 million (£319 million), and spending on the military launch site at Plesetsk Cosmodrome is at least $100 million (£73 million) annually.
All of these efforts, plus the cost of maintenance for other ground-based defence space infrastructure and personnel, means that Russia’s military space program is about $1.6 billion (£1.17 billion). The biggest part of Russia’s military satellite constellation involves 51 communications spacecraft, with 16 Earth-observation satellites.
At the most recent meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, states worried that “preventing conflicts in outer space and preserving outer space for peaceful purposes” is more necessary than ever. Since
1967, human activity in space has been guided by the universally accepted principles embedded in the Outer Space Treaty. This has ensured no military conflict in space thus far, and required the exploration and use of space “for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.”
The ESA’s director general, Jan Wörner, tells
he is against the military uses of space: “It should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes, although some people have interpreted ‘peaceful’ as being for defence. We have enough problems with military conflict on Earth. France is going in the same direction as the US.”
The ISS is an excellent example of what the world should be doing in space, rather than militarising it and increasing inter-nation suspicion. “We should use space for all humankind. Coming from Germany, I’ve had enough of walls and wars. Military space will lead to a proliferation of space debris, which is becoming a huge problem. Space is a bridge over troubled water, and should remain as such,” concludes Wörner.
“On space we already spend a considerable sum, and the extra is to take us to the next stage”
Ben Wallace