Space Security Index

Space Support for Terrestrial Military Operations
developed for military use. e increased use of space has also led to greater competition
for scarce space resources such as orbital slots and, in particular, radio frequency spectrum
allocations. While disputes over these scarce resources also aect the civil and commercial
space sectors, they become more acute in the military sector, where they are associated with
national security.
Space assets play an important strategic role in the terrestrial military operations of certain
states. In most cases, space systems have augmented the military capabilities of several states
by enhancing battleeld awareness, including precise navigation and targeting support,
early warning of missile launch, and real-time communications. Furthermore, remote
sensing satellites have served as a national technical means of verication of international
nonproliferation, arms control, and disarmament regimes. ese uses have resulted in an
increasing dependence on space, particularly by the major spacefaring states.
Space capabilities and space-derived information are integrated into the day-to-day military
planning of major spacefaring states. is can have a positive eect on space security by
increasing the collective vested interest in space security, as a result of heightened mutual
vulnerabilities. Conversely, the use of space to support terrestrial military operations can be
detrimental to space security if adversaries, viewing space as a new source of military threat
or as critical military infrastructure, develop space system negation capabilities to neutralize
the advantages of those systems, potentially triggering an arms race in outer space.
Because the space systems that support military operations are seen as vulnerable, actors
have a greater incentive to protect them by developing space system protection and negation
capabilities, which could potentially lead to an arms escalation dynamic. Moreover, many
of the space systems used for military purposes today are integrated with civilian and
commercial uses, thus raising the potential of extensive collateral damage if they are targeted
during warfare.
Concern has been expressed that extensive use of space in support of terrestrial military
operations blurs the notion of “peaceful purposes” as enshrined in the Outer Space Treaty
(OST), but state practice over the past 40 years has generally accepted these applications
as peaceful insofar as they are not aggressive in space (see Trend 3.1). Space has been
militarized since the rst satellite, Sputnik, was placed into orbit. Of concern here is not
whether militaries should use space, but rather how the use of space by militaries improves
or degrades the security of space.
Trend 6.1: The U.S. and Russia continue to lead in deploying
military space systems
During the Cold War, the U.S. and USSR developed military space systems at a relatively
equal pace. e collapse of the USSR, however, saw a massive drop in Russian military
space spending, while the U.S. expanded its military space capabilities. ere has been a
general decrease in the number of military launches by both states in recent years; this is, in
part, explained by the longer average lifespan of modern space systems. However, U.S. and
Russian dependence on military space systems appears to be increasing. While new systems
are being orbited at a slower rate, they have greater capabilities and longevity and are more
closely integrated with the military. Commercial systems are also playing a rapidly growing
military support role. Figures 6.3 and 6.4 provide an overview of U.S. and Russian military
satellite launches since 1957.
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