The new space race is already a war race
privacyinternational.org
Satellites are strategic assets at the heart of global power. We have heard the story before: the moon race, the space race, the promise of progress framed as the conquest of territories beyond Earth.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1393273/the-new-space-race-is-already-a-war-race-satellites-now-serve-civilians-and-militaries-a

  • Active satellites have grown tenfold in a decade (roughly 1,000 in 2014 to 10,000 by 2024), with Starlink alone operating around 60%, far outpacing the regulations meant to govern them
  • Commercial companies increasingly control Earth observation data, supplying governments and militaries through exclusive contracts like the US Space Force’s TacSRT and Orbital Watch, while the most advanced capabilities are unavailable for public use
  • Services marketed as bridging connectivity gaps often carry embedded defence contracts: civilian and military functions are thus designed to overlap from the outset
  • As networks like Starlink become indispensable single-provider infrastructure as they have in Ukraine, they gain outsized geopolitical leverage and create new vulnerabilities, including tools reportedly able to locate and identify users
  • Existing legal frameworks were not designed for infrastructure that is simultaneously civilian and military, leaving key questions of accountability and oversight unresolved