# The Future of Military Power Is Space Power  ## Metadata - Author: Clayton Swope - Full Title: The Future of Military Power Is Space Power - Category: #articles - Document Tags: #military-strategy #mtr #rma #spacepower #technology - Summary: Military power is shifting into space. The U.S. must identify and adopt new space missions, like space-based missile interceptors and orbital global strike. The Space Force needs a Space Futures Command or similar process to validate and integrate those missions and maintain advantage. - URL: https://aerospace.csis.org/the-future-of-military-power-is-space-power/ ## Highlights - Golden Dome is a clear sign that the Trump administration is willing to reconsider policies that have long held the lid on U.S. efforts to fully realize the warfighting potential of space, though in most ways Golden Dome would use space no differently than the military has done for decades. Space sensing will play a critical role in Golden Dome, as it does today in the U.S. early warning architecture, with satellites used to detect and track missile launches. But Golden Dome is a paradigm shift because it includes the deployment of space-based missile interceptors, opening the door to a new chapter in how the U.S. military uses space. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k63reasa8ekrf51ybdxbdqvp)) - From a practical standpoint, space control can be broken into two parts: counterspace and counter-counterspace. The counterspace mission is oriented around stopping adversaries from using space for their own operations. Conversely, the counter-counterspace mission aims to defeat counterspace weapons employed by an adversary, protecting and defending U.S. space assets. Space-based missile interceptors can perform both space control roles, taking out an adversary’s satellites or intercepting kinetic ground-launched antisatellite missiles targeting high-value U.S. satellites. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k63rfkaj04t8m4skta3wjc24)) - Another new space mission might be called space mobility. This would be a look past mere space access to a broader space mobility mission, a concept whose building blocks are proven. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k63rg5rb2jdw81khyvw3x0be)) - A vehicle in orbit that is capable of surviving reentry could also deliver more than just cargo—it could deliver weapons. This is the [same concept](https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4466/1) as a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), a system developed by the Soviet Union and most recently [tested by China](https://breakingdefense.com/2021/11/its-a-fobs-space-forces-saltzman-confirms-amid-chinese-weapons-test-confusion/) in 2021 that is designed to deliver a warhead to its target using low Earth orbit. To date, this is a type of system the U.S. military has not pursued ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k63rhrvk5zqt7xxyrfdh43z9)) - Adversaries would find it difficult to defend against orbital strike weapons, as most current air defenses, other than systems designed for [terminal phase missile intercept](https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/missile-defense-systems-glance), would be inadequate for the task. Global strike from space would be a true game changer, offering an unrivaled level of promptness and speed, significantly increasing the lethality of space power. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k63rkfw7mp9c11kndz3xr21p)) - Space mobility is about more than just access to space, in the same way that the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command is about more than access to the air, though some elements, like air refueling, do concern air access itself. Space-based intercept of missiles could fit into the space control mission, if implemented in the way outlined in this article as a tool for space control, but the missile intercept mission itself is not really about space control. Finally, the oddest duck is orbital global strike, or space-to-Earth fires. This mission is so distinct and so clearly visible on the horizon of military space power that it is impossible to ignore. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k63rmhz40ym9c9vhahenbqhh))