Ever since the human race set foot on
this earth, it has indulged itself in an unending state of conflict; both
interspecies and intraspecies. Human beings have attained the pinnacle of
perfection, rising from all other species and creating an environment for
development, security and prosperity. The human race further aggravated the
interspecies conflict on sea, air, and land in an effort to subdue the
adversary (which unfortunately also happens to be the same specie i.e. man).
The three dimensions of war stated earlier had already proven fatal, but the
continuously advancing counterpart of the man, on the other side of the Iron Curtain,
the Maginot Line, across the South China Sea or on each of the opposite sides
of LOC and Durand line had always succeeded or partly try to succeed in either
defeating or managing to defeat the adversary. Hence, here, the
"intellect" of the human mind comes into play and starts figuring out
possible new ways or means, to defeat this continuously adaptive enemy.
In 2009, a reboot of the Star Trek
series was released and all of the movies ended with the same monologue:
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and
new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
The US
“National Defense Authorization Act” for 2020 re-designated Air Force Space Command as the U.S. Space Force
and established it as an independent branch of the US Armed Forces on 20 December 2019. It officially started
the process of weaponizing outer space and renewing the space race of the '80s.
To understand this development we
must go back in time and look at the evolution of warfare and how armed forces
became what they are nowadays.
Armies
have been around since as early as human settlements came into existence. All
able-bodied men would train to fight collectively for the preservation and
protection of their settlements and properties. Here we find the first dimension
of warfare: Land. As technology began to evolve, more weapons came into being
and humans started travelling on sea via boats and ships. Soon these ships
began to be weaponized as well and the second dimension of warfare opened: Sea.
In 1903, the Wright Brothers made the first aircraft, and soon after Aircrafts
were being mass-produced and used for reconnaissance by the military in the
First World War. By the beginning of the 2nd World War, Air Force
was an established branch of the military and was being effectively used in
warfighting as displayed by the German Luftwaffe's role in the 'Blitzkrieg'
Strategy. Hence the third dimension of warfare: Air.
Finally,
with the widespread use of computers and networking, the fourth dimension
opened up: Cyberspace. Due to the widespread use in core areas and easy
availability of computers nowadays cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly
common and many State and non-state actors use cyber-attacks effectively such
as the Stuxnet attack on Iran by the USA. It has been demonstrated many times
that a small group of efficient hackers could cripple an entire country in
hours. Mass hacking of bank accounts, social media accounts, insurance
companies, and banking chains have cost corporations billions of dollars.
In November 1999, 138 United Nations
General Assembly members voted to reaffirm the Outer Space Treaty. Only the
United States and Israel abstained from the vote. However, in recent times
several states are developing space forces in alliance with the United States.
According to a USSPACECOM announcement on their official website, "USSPACECOM expands key allied space partnerships through multi-nation
operations”
Close at heels are the Russians, who on April 15th
tested a Direct Assent Anti Satellite Missile (DA-ASAT Missile) which is
designed to destroy satellites in low earth orbit. In February, the US Space
Force spotted two Russian satellites, COSMOS 2542 and COSMOS 2543, following a
US government satellite and reportedly “exhibited characteristics of a space
weapon”.
Some people might say that Space warfare is for the
richest countries but in March 2019, India also tested an Anti-satellite
missile. Anti-Satellite Missiles are not the only threats. The debris from
destroyed satellites travelling at speeds faster than a bullet can put other
satellites and space stations at risk as in the case of the Indian test.
According to NASA, the Indian missile test left at least 60 large pieces of
orbital debris which could have potentially hit the ISS and put Astronauts’
lives at risk.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/world/asia/nasa-india-space-debris.html
After such
rapid developments in the methods of warfare, the question now arises; is Space
truly the "Final Frontier" ?
Space has
always been weaponized and militaries have always been piggybacking on Space
Programs but formally never had a branch of the military specifically dedicated
to Space Warfare. This new development might start a newfound space race and
the entry of private enterprises such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin,
will revolutionize travel to and from outer space. In the near future, these
private companies will start running regular passenger flights into space. As
always a means of transportation and communication has been hijacked and turned
into a medium of war.
The debate on whether space is the final dimension or not is rather pointless as the Human ‘intellect’ will always push him to find new ways and means to gain superiority over his enemy and become the ‘Alpha’. Therefore i have come to the conclusion that space is, definitely, not the "Final Frontier".
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