It is no coincidence that NATO adopted its first dedicated space strategy in June 2019 and is considering to designate space as a domain of its own, equal to land, air, sea and cyberspace.1 The latest reminder that space is turning into a...
moreIt is no coincidence that NATO adopted its first dedicated space strategy in June 2019 and is considering to designate space as a domain of its own, equal to land, air, sea and cyberspace.1 The latest reminder that space is turning into a military-operational environment came on 27 March 2019, when India performed a military feat that only the USA, Russia, and China had achieved before: It hit and destroyed a satellite orbiting Earth by means of a missile.2 Meanwhile, the USA is considering to create a space force and, more worryingly, planning to station weapons in space.3 France, again, is aiming to set up a space command as part of its air force in September this year.4 With the growing importance of space assets for military and civilian functions, space is also gaining strategic importance and features ever more prominently in military debates. A high military value of space assets increases the incentive for states to be able to attack an adversary’s space assets and protect t...