By Lan Shunzheng
Media reports said that the US Space Command is strengthening the relation with its allies to coordinate their military operations in the space. Major General Stephen Whiting, the Combined Force Space Component Commander, US Space Command, said they are working to give more support to international, cross-sectoral and business partners. It’s clear that the US is trying to establish its space dominance by way of alliance.
As soon as he came in office, Trump has taken a series of steps to form the space force despite the resistance from home and abroad. On August 29, he announced to create the Space Command and made the space another battlefield after the land, sea, sky and cyberspace. Washington has its own purposes in strengthening the space cooperation with allies. On one hand, it can lead the formulation of “game rules” in the space; on the other hand, it can split the cost and risks of space exploitation and have more “pawns” in case of space conflict. The American military is already making preparations for this. The Combined Space Operations Center, for instance, used to be where the US Air Force carried out space activities with its allies such as Australia, Canada and the UK. Last year the US Air Force renovated it into the combined space operation center to better integrate with the allies’ space assets.
Whiting’s remarks indicated that the US-led space clique will mainly include the UK, Japan, etc.
As America’s traditional ally, the UK, which is working hard to exit the EU, will naturally follow its steps for a long time to come in order to keep in step in the space. British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said in July that London and Washington are working on Operation Olympic Defender (OOD) under the latter’s lead to enhance their capability of stopping and deterring the rivals, and UK was the first international partner joining the operation. Whiting said Washington welcomed London’s joining and will step up British presence in the Combined Space Operations Center.
Although Japan hasn’t accomplished much in the space military sector yet, its potential is not to be underestimated. Technically speaking, its Hayabusa 2 probe has completed a series of tasks on the asteroid Ryugu, including releasing mini robot, landing and sampling, and it will soon return to earth. From a policy point of view, Japan plans to form the “Space Force” in 2020 to realize real-time monitoring of the space. According to Whiting, the Pentagon will sign a payload sharing agreement with Japan to reinforce the space awareness around the US Indo-Pacific Command. In the meantime, the US Space Command continues to seek to develop a partnership with Japan in hopes of closer cooperation in tactical satellite communication and space command and control.
It’s easy to see that the US-lead space alliance will lure a batch of followers, but Washington seems to be over-optimistic about its prospects. On one hand, its moves go counter to the initiative of “peaceful utilization of space” generally upheld by the international community. On the other hand, even in the west, not all countries recognize America’s “dominance” and some have shown the tendency to deviate from it, represented by France. Although Paris was among the first to send military officers to the Multinational Space Collaboration Office under the US Space Command, it has been seeking independence both within NATO and in the security cooperation with Washington. Macron claimed in a recent interview that NATO is “brain-dead” and warned European countries not to rely on the US anymore.
In sum, the US needs support from all related parties to create the space alliance, but how much synergy it will yield is yet to be seen.
