Conquering the Emptiness: A New Stage in the Militarization of Outer Space

... preparations for orbital warfare were openly declared to be its principal task. Orbital warfare is also one of the subjects to be taught to officers at the new training centre. The U.S. initiative caused a domino effect among its allies. In September 2019, France established, as part of its air force, a Space Command with a higher status than before, and in October 2020, NATO announced the creation of a space centre at Allied Air Command in the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is planning to establish its own Space Command in 2022 , and even the “pacifist” Japan announced the launch of a new “Space Operations Squadron” to "protect Japanese satellites." Undoubtedly, ...