USA warn in the all-bet of China: “Space is militarized”

Arms in space

USA warn of “breathtakingly fast” developments by China

The United States confirms its military dominance in space. The former world power could still lose arms.

When Michelle Hanlon, the head of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi, is going, the international community must finally recognize the new status quo. In conversation with the online portal “Meduza”, she explains: “The concept of the ‘militarization of space’ has long been outdated. Space is militarized.”

Figures from a research by the “Financial Times” confirm this statement: At the beginning of last year, the United States had 247 military satellites, China over 157 and Russia over 110. But also smaller states try to get involved: According to research, France operates in the general military satellites.

Even if most of them are used for early warning and communication, the race for satellite weapons has long since started. The lawyer Hanlon therefore calls for a new focus in the interview: “I think we really have to do the discussion more on how we can prevent, reduce or reduce the risk of conflicts in space.”

Although states such as the United States, Russia and China have long been running a arms race, the legal situation is still relatively thin. Hanlon explains that the only real international law for space comes from the time of the Cold War: the “Outer Space Treaty” from 1967, came into force two years before the first lunar landing.

It is stipulated in it that no weapons of nuclear or mass destruction may be stationed in space. It is also regulated that the moon may only be used peacefully. At the same time, Hanlon emphasizes: “Of course, everything is very openly formulated.”

The law could not hold back the military race in space. It was only in April of this year that the American Space Force issued the goal of wanting to defend the dominance in space. U.S. General Chance Saltzman became clear in a statement: it is about “aggressors who threaten our vital national interests, deter and, if necessary, defeat.”

Even if the USA still has a pioneering position, other countries quickly open. Russia destroyed one of his own satellites at tests in 2021 – and demonstrated what its own weapons can.

In February 2022, Russia finally shot the Cosmos 2553 satellite into the orbit, according to the US side a step towards Nuclear weapons in space, Russia denied everything. In 2024, the United States finally accused the United Nations that Russia had sent weapons into space. So Russia should be able to destroy foreign satellites.

The real rival of the United States in the fight for dominance in space is China. Technically, the United States seems to fear that the People’s Republic could soon depend on it. As early as 2021, China is said to have tested hyperschall weapons that reach five times the speed of sound.