Space geostrategy
Encyclopedia
Geostrategy
in space
(also referred to as astrostrategy) deals with the strategic
considerations of location and resources in outer space territory. In essence, it is the study of the strategic application of resources to the geography of space. Initial geostrategic concerns, as humans reach further outside of Earth
, will be focused on how strategic locations and resources relate to the Earth itself. Following further development of human presence in space, geostrategic concerns will place greater focus on the relation of geostrategic locations and resources in space with one another.
Building upon Halford J. Mackinder's divisions of Earth's geography into strategic regions, astrostrategists divide space into distinct areas with unique strategic characteristics. The key to each country's strategic relationship with the various regions is transportation technology, especially as it concerns military mobility. If a state could not physically control a strategic area, then it must at least endeavor to deny control of the area to other powers. Because of the vast resources available to those who can control territory and locations in space, any state that could command space would exercise tremendous influence over all others.
Earth
Earth Space
Moon Space
Solar Space
Spacecraft in stable orbits need expend no fuel. As there are only precise routes that result in stable orbits, there is already a scarcity of resources in space's space. The useful life of a spacecraft is in many ways determined by the stability of its orbit (which can be disrupted by orbital perturbations) and its fuel reserves. Perturbations are caused by the interaction of gravitational fields other than the Earth's—the Moon, Venus, Mars, the Sun, Jupiter, etc.—as well as defects in the Earth's own gravitational field caused by its imperfectly spherical shape.
The distance of an orbiting craft or satellite to the Earth also affects its utility: the lower the craft, the better its observational capacity in monitoring events on the Earth's surface; the further away the craft's orbit, the more easily a stable orbit is achieved.
There are generally four categories of orbits around Earth, defined by the distance and angle of their orbit:
Low altitude orbits:
Medium altitude orbits:
High altitude orbits:
Highly elliptical orbits:
Lagrange libration points are theoretical points of gravitational anomaly, wherein the gravitational effects of two orbiting bodies would cancel each other out. French mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange
calculated that there were five points where the gravity of the Earth and the Moon would cancel. An object orbiting around any one of these five points would remain permanently stable, without the fuel expenditure usually associated with maintaining such a position. These points remain fixed relative to the Earth and the Moon in theory, although orbital perturbations render only two of the five Lagrange postulated practically stable. L1, L2, and L3 are subject to unstable environments, and thus are not practically usable as theorized. The so-called Trojan points, L4 and L5, are theoretically stable, although this, of course, remains speculative. The military and commercial value of such stable points would be immense. A U.S. group called the L-5 Society was created to advocate control of these points.
The location of Earth's Van Allen belts is of strategic importance, because these areas contain highly charged particles which can damage spacecraft travelling through them.
The Inner Belt ranges from 400-1,200 km, depending on latitude, and extends outward 10,000 km, with its most lethal area 3,500 km out. The South Atlantic Anomaly
can potentially disrupt satellites in polar orbits, but usually does not pose a problem for manned spaceflights.
The Outer Belt ranges from 10,000-84,000 km, with its most lethal area 16,000 km out. The Outer Belt is affected by solar winds, and is thus flattened to 59,500 km in the area directly between the Earth and the Sun, and extends to its maximum distance in the shadow of the Earth.
A safe channel exists between the belts from 9,000-11,000 km, as the edges of the two belts are relatively benign.
The Outer Space Treaty
forbids any military activity on the Moon. Currently, the resources available on the Moon and the cost they require to be extracted do not make it a crucial target. It has been argued, however, that the Moon could present other advantages of strategic importance.
The other planets, moons, and asteroids of the solar system have a tremendous set of untapped resources.
The Moon has large deposits of aluminum, new ores of titanium, pure iron, calcium, and silicon (usable for photovoltaic solar energy production). Oxygen can be extracted from lunar soil simply by heating it. Even water from impacting comets remains around the edges of craters. The Moon's resources can potentially be accessed and utilized in the near-future.
The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union, which lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975. It involved the efforts to explore outer space with artificial satellites, to send humans into space, and to land people on the Moon.
Though its roots lie in early German rocket technology and in the international tensions following World War II, the Space Race effectively began after the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957. The term originated as an analogy to the arms race. The Space Race became an important part of the cultural, technological, and ideological rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Space technology became a particularly important arena in this conflict, because[specify] of both its potential military applications and the morale-boosting social benefits.
Geostrategy
Geostrategy, a subfield of geopolitics, is a type of foreign policy guided principally by geographical factors as they inform, constrain, or affect political and military planning...
in space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
(also referred to as astrostrategy) deals with the strategic
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
considerations of location and resources in outer space territory. In essence, it is the study of the strategic application of resources to the geography of space. Initial geostrategic concerns, as humans reach further outside of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, will be focused on how strategic locations and resources relate to the Earth itself. Following further development of human presence in space, geostrategic concerns will place greater focus on the relation of geostrategic locations and resources in space with one another.
Geography of space
- See also: Solar systemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, Geological features of the Solar SystemGeological features of the solar systemRecommendation- Geology of solar terrestrial planetsThis is a directory of lists of geological features on other planets, moons and asteroids :- Mercury :* List of craters on Mercury...
, MagnetosphereMagnetosphereA magnetosphere is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the intrinsic magnetic field of a planet or similar body. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the other planets with intrinsic magnetic fields: Mercury, Jupiter,...
Building upon Halford J. Mackinder's divisions of Earth's geography into strategic regions, astrostrategists divide space into distinct areas with unique strategic characteristics. The key to each country's strategic relationship with the various regions is transportation technology, especially as it concerns military mobility. If a state could not physically control a strategic area, then it must at least endeavor to deny control of the area to other powers. Because of the vast resources available to those who can control territory and locations in space, any state that could command space would exercise tremendous influence over all others.
Earth
- This area encompasses the physical Earth stopping just before the altitude at which unpowered orbit is possible. Just as a coast is to the ocean, the atmosphere here is to space—Earth is the transition region between astrostrategy and geostrategy. It is the crucial territory for transport, take-offs, landings, communication, production, and maintenance.
Earth Space
- Between the lowest possible orbit, and the geostationary orbit, this area is the operating region for all military and communications satellites and networks, including reconnaissance, navigation, and space-based weaponry. It also includes the zone through which medium and long-range ICBMs make their highest altitude stage of transit.
Moon Space
- This region encompasses the band of space beyond geostationary orbits to just beyond the Moon's orbit. Within this space lies the Moon itself, as well as the strategic Lagrange points.
Solar Space
- This region is simply everything within the Sun's gravitational field, outside the orbit of the Moon. Current ability to exploit this region is quite limited, but its resources are vast, including the possibilities of colonization, terraformingTerraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
, and planetary mining of the other planets in the solar system, as well as their moons, and asteroids. This area is the future potential "lebensraumHabitat* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
" for an extraterrestrial population.
Orbits
- Main article: Planetary orbitPlanetary orbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
, Earth orbit
Spacecraft in stable orbits need expend no fuel. As there are only precise routes that result in stable orbits, there is already a scarcity of resources in space's space. The useful life of a spacecraft is in many ways determined by the stability of its orbit (which can be disrupted by orbital perturbations) and its fuel reserves. Perturbations are caused by the interaction of gravitational fields other than the Earth's—the Moon, Venus, Mars, the Sun, Jupiter, etc.—as well as defects in the Earth's own gravitational field caused by its imperfectly spherical shape.
The distance of an orbiting craft or satellite to the Earth also affects its utility: the lower the craft, the better its observational capacity in monitoring events on the Earth's surface; the further away the craft's orbit, the more easily a stable orbit is achieved.
There are generally four categories of orbits around Earth, defined by the distance and angle of their orbit:
Low altitude orbits:
- Generally ranging between 150-800 km above the Earth's surface, these orbits are used primarily for Earth reconnaissance and manned flight missions. Because of the low altitude, up to 14-16 orbits can be completed per day. Satellites can be placed in low altitude orbits by cheap two-staged rockets. (See also: Low Earth orbitLow Earth orbitA low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
)
Medium altitude orbits:
- Ranging from 800 km to 35,000 km above the Earth, these orbits are used for linked satellite networks. Global positioning system satellites occupy medium altitude orbits, triangulating positions on Earth. Telecommunication networks may also soon inhabit this orbital strata. They can achieve anywhere from 2-14 orbits per day. (See also: Intermediate circular orbit)
High altitude orbits:
- From 35,000 km and beyond, these orbits are useful for providing the maximum continuous coverage of Earth, with a minimum of satellites necessary. Orbits or this distance allow for one or less orbits per day. An orbit exactly equal to one day is called a "geosynchronous orbitGeosynchronous orbitA geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
", and a geosynchronous orbit placed at a 0° inclination from the Earth's equator (a "geostationary orbitGeostationary orbitA geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
") appears as a fixed point in the sky when viewed from anywhere on the Earth's surface. Only three geosynchronous satellites are necessary to gain coverage of the Earth's entire circumference. As they do not appear to move, they can also be easily accessed by non-mobile antennae. Global communications and weather satellites occupy these types of orbits. Their main drawback is an inability to view the polar regions, above or below 70° latitude. (See also: High Earth OrbitHigh Earth orbitA High Earth Orbit is a geocentric orbit whose apogee lies above that of a geosynchronous orbit .Highly Elliptical Orbits are a subset of High Earth Orbits.-Examples of satellites in High Earth Orbit:...
)
Highly elliptical orbits:
- To overcome the deficiencies of polar viewing from high altitude orbits, the highly elliptical orbit was developed. Rather than being symmetrical, such an orbit can have a perigee as low as 250 km, and apogee of up to 700,000 km. When placed highly inclined with an apogee of 36,000-40,000 km, the satellite can dwell over the polar region for several hours before racing around the Earth at very high speeds. When three satellites are placed in the same orbit and networked, they can provide continuous surveillance and ground access. (See also: Molniya orbitMolniya orbitMolniya orbit is a type of highly elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63.4 degrees, an argument of perigee of -90 degree and an orbital period of one half of a sidereal day...
, Polar orbitPolar orbitA polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination of 90 degrees to the equator...
)
Lagrange points
- Main article: Lagrange points
Lagrange libration points are theoretical points of gravitational anomaly, wherein the gravitational effects of two orbiting bodies would cancel each other out. French mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange
Joseph Louis Lagrange
Joseph-Louis Lagrange , born Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia, was a mathematician and astronomer, who was born in Turin, Piedmont, lived part of his life in Prussia and part in France, making significant contributions to all fields of analysis, to number theory, and to classical and celestial mechanics...
calculated that there were five points where the gravity of the Earth and the Moon would cancel. An object orbiting around any one of these five points would remain permanently stable, without the fuel expenditure usually associated with maintaining such a position. These points remain fixed relative to the Earth and the Moon in theory, although orbital perturbations render only two of the five Lagrange postulated practically stable. L1, L2, and L3 are subject to unstable environments, and thus are not practically usable as theorized. The so-called Trojan points, L4 and L5, are theoretically stable, although this, of course, remains speculative. The military and commercial value of such stable points would be immense. A U.S. group called the L-5 Society was created to advocate control of these points.
Magnetosphere
- Main articles: MagnetosphereMagnetosphereA magnetosphere is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the intrinsic magnetic field of a planet or similar body. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the other planets with intrinsic magnetic fields: Mercury, Jupiter,...
, Earth's magnetic fieldEarth's magnetic fieldEarth's magnetic field is the magnetic field that extends from the Earth's inner core to where it meets the solar wind, a stream of energetic particles emanating from the Sun...
, Van Allen radiation beltVan Allen radiation beltThe Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles around Earth, which is held in place by Earth's magnetic field. It is believed that most of the particles that form the belts come from solar wind, and other particles by cosmic rays. It is named after its discoverer, James...
The location of Earth's Van Allen belts is of strategic importance, because these areas contain highly charged particles which can damage spacecraft travelling through them.
The Inner Belt ranges from 400-1,200 km, depending on latitude, and extends outward 10,000 km, with its most lethal area 3,500 km out. The South Atlantic Anomaly
South Atlantic Anomaly
The South Atlantic Anomaly is an area where the Earth's inner Van Allen radiation belt comes closest to the Earth's surface. This leads to an increased flux of energetic particles in this region and exposes orbiting satellites to higher than usual levels of radiation...
can potentially disrupt satellites in polar orbits, but usually does not pose a problem for manned spaceflights.
The Outer Belt ranges from 10,000-84,000 km, with its most lethal area 16,000 km out. The Outer Belt is affected by solar winds, and is thus flattened to 59,500 km in the area directly between the Earth and the Sun, and extends to its maximum distance in the shadow of the Earth.
A safe channel exists between the belts from 9,000-11,000 km, as the edges of the two belts are relatively benign.
Moons
- See also: The MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Natural satelliteNatural satelliteA natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
s
The Outer Space Treaty
Outer Space Treaty
The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a treaty that forms the basis of international space law...
forbids any military activity on the Moon. Currently, the resources available on the Moon and the cost they require to be extracted do not make it a crucial target. It has been argued, however, that the Moon could present other advantages of strategic importance.
- As a shipyard: Lying at the bottom of a small gravity well, a shipyard available to construct space ships only with lunar materials would require less energy to launch than one built inside Earth's atmosphere and would require less complex operation and supply chain than one constructed in Earth's orbit.
- As an observatory: The Moon always presents the same face to the Earth. Therefore it is a natural shield against artificial radiations from earth that could be used for space observation in the radio spectrum. Today most of the artificial objects are easily observable from earth's orbit, but in a world where some of these objects would have military applications and therefore would probably have some stealth abilities, such an observatory could be a valuable military asset. Additionally, the Moon lacks an atmosphere and an ionosphere that perturb many wavelength in earth-based observations.
- As a bombing base. This idea has been first described in The Moon Is a Harsh MistressThe Moon Is a Harsh MistressThe Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth....
, from Robert.A Heinlein. Considering that the Moon has a very low escape velocityEscape velocityIn physics, escape velocity is the speed at which the kinetic energy plus the gravitational potential energy of an object is zero gravitational potential energy is negative since gravity is an attractive force and the potential is defined to be zero at infinity...
when compared to Earth's, it should be possible to build a cannon (or a mass driverMass driverA mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
, or even a trebuchet) that would simply throw rocks in Earth's direction. It is a non-orbital version of Kinetic bombardmentKinetic bombardmentA kinetic bombardment is the act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile, where the destructive force comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high velocities...
.
Space colonization
- Main articles: Space colonizationSpace colonizationSpace colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
, Colonization of the MoonColonization of the MoonThe colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities on the Moon. Advocates of space exploration have seen settlement of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth. Recent indication that water might be present in noteworthy...
, Colonization of the outer solar systemColonization of the outer solar systemSome of the moons of the outer planets of the solar system are large enough to be suitable places for colonization. Many of the larger moons contain water ice, liquid water, and organic compounds that might be useful for sustaining human life. Colonies in the outer Solar System could also serve as...
Militarization of space
- Main articles: Militarization of space, Strategic Defense InitiativeStrategic Defense InitiativeThe Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
, Air Force Space CommandAir Force Space CommandAir Force Space Command is a major command of the United States Department of the Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of satellite, launch and cyber operations....
Resources
- See also: Astrogeology
The other planets, moons, and asteroids of the solar system have a tremendous set of untapped resources.
The Moon has large deposits of aluminum, new ores of titanium, pure iron, calcium, and silicon (usable for photovoltaic solar energy production). Oxygen can be extracted from lunar soil simply by heating it. Even water from impacting comets remains around the edges of craters. The Moon's resources can potentially be accessed and utilized in the near-future.
Cold War
- Main article: Space RaceSpace RaceThe Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union, which lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975. It involved the efforts to explore outer space with artificial satellites, to send humans into space, and to land people on the Moon.
Though its roots lie in early German rocket technology and in the international tensions following World War II, the Space Race effectively began after the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957. The term originated as an analogy to the arms race. The Space Race became an important part of the cultural, technological, and ideological rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Space technology became a particularly important arena in this conflict, because[specify] of both its potential military applications and the morale-boosting social benefits.