Is the Space between Earth and Moon really uncontrolled?
Did you know that it is thanks to satellites that USA have observed the Russian troops moving toward Ukrainian borders at the beginning of this year? It is also thanks to this that Kiev was able to efficiently counter-act this action and to avoid a fast Russian invasion.
This was not a case: it is clearer and clearer that who controls the space between Earth and Moon has a significant advantage over who has not this capability. Just ask yourself why Russia did not recognize that someone was spying over their skies. Numbers talk by themselves: the satellite capability of United States is 8 times the one of Russia!
The above diagram shows every kind of satellite, so among them there are ones used for commercial purposes, scientific and telecommunication, but also military satellites.
For sure, the example of Ukraine-Russia conflict is only the most recent one, but a lot more cases are available.
So the control of Space has a lot of implications on the supremacy of one Country over another nowadays.
- you can observe our Planet from a privileged point of view;
- you can control the other Countries to promptly react to eventual attacks from them
- you can disturb or jam enemies for communication and logistics
- you can develop and study cutting-edge technologies with direct repercussion on our present life, with a huge business opportunity
- you pose yourself in a strategic position when it comes to exploit lunar and space resources in the very next future
- last, but not least, show a prestigious image towards other Countries (which seems a secondary purpose, but think about the Space Race - we talked about it in a previous issue - haven’t United States got an advantage from that?)
Why are we talking specifically about the Space between the Earth and the Moon?
Even though we are constantly sending probes and satellites to Mars and other planets, even if we have gone outside the Solar System with the Voyager spacecraft, the Earth-Moon Space is the only one we can actually control with the current technologies.
First of all, this is how it is usually divided:
If you want to read the full article, just log-in or join the SpaceInfo Members Club: it's free. Join here.
If you are still curious about space facts, join our members club: it's free and we periodically publish a free newsletter for members, about Space related topics and more: Space Engineering, Astronomy and Space Economy.
Comments