Is the Militarization of Outer Space Inevitable?

In January of 1967, the United Nations Outer Space Treaty in Article IV stated that all parties to the agreement would never station weapons or establish military bases, installations or fortifications in orbit around the Earth or on any moon, planet, asteroid, comet…you name it. Outer space was to be reserved for peaceful exploration. The only caveat was that the use of military personnel for scientific and peaceful purposes was not prohibited.

Since then the nations who were signatories to the treaty, and those who were not have gone about using hardware in outer space for military purposes. Surveillance and spy satellites have been around almost from the dawn of the modern Space Age. Under President Ronald Reagan, the Strategic Defence Initiative, known as Star Wars was launched in the 1980s. Donald Trump created the United States Space Force, a fifth arm of the American military. China and Russia have both fired on their own satellites in weapons tests. And cosmonauts have even brought along shotguns on space missions not to defend themselves from each other or aliens, but rather to use should they land in an area of the Siberian steppe and encounter a bear or other threat.

But now, USTRANSCOM, the transportation and logistics arm of the US military is working with SpaceX to use rockets to deliver not only supplies to anywhere on the planet in 60 minutes but also personnel to serve as a rapid reaction force. Starship is seen as the platform to achieve both goals.

Back in October 2020, USTRANSCOM presented an idea to deliver cargo payloads equivalent to a C-17 cargo plane anywhere on Earth or to low-Earth orbit using reusable rockets. The idea was based on the desire to deliver time-sensitive humanitarian assistance.

In 2021, the idea further evolved to a fleet of militarized Starships for point-to-point space transportation. Using Starships payload capacity, USTRANSCOM could deliver to orbit 100 metric tons. For suborbital flights where less fuel would be required, payload capacity could be even larger.

Starships have been designed for both cargo and passengers. A single Starship can move a payload of cargo and crew anywhere on the planet within 60 minutes. USTRANSCOM considered putting a fleet of Starships on standby equipped with shelters, ground vehicles, construction equipment, and military gear for deployment wherever and whenever needed.

It is the rapid reaction force that would be the most controversial of USTRANSCOM’s proposed capabilities. It would involve moving a small armed force to support an American embassy or other strategic interests anywhere on Earth.

Is this pie in the sky or a near-future reality? A spokesperson for USTRANSCOM told The Intercept recently that “it’s possible within the next five to ten years.”

I have written about the work being done by Chris Smedley, Chief Experience Officer (CXO) of Toronto-based Digital Habitats. Chris envisions a rocket network of Earth and ocean-based Starports that would be launching sites for cargo and passengers on suborbital flights anywhere on the planet. He would use a fleet of reusable rockets that in the future could replace commercial aircraft. His Starports would be the equivalent of airports today.

To my mind, this is where USTRANSCOM’s idea runs into a bit of a problem. Dropping a Starship anywhere unannounced without logistical support like a Starport won’t work. Without refuelling and maintenance infrastructure how would the Starship relaunch with passengers in a rescue mission scenario? And if the flight is suborbital, once the Starship’s parabolic flight entered outer space as a military mission it would violate the UN Outer Space Treaty, and when it entered the atmosphere it would violate a sovereign country’s airspace.

Nonetheless, military minds from the US, China and Russia are likely thinking along these same lines because the ability to go anywhere on the planet and deliver military presence seems mighty appealing to those who are in the fighting business.