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7.9c: The economic costs of maintaining global military power (naval, nuclear, air power, intelligence services) and space exploration are questioned in some existing superpowers.

Superpowers & Space �Notes from ‘The Future of Geography’, Tim Marshall, 2023

In 2019 the US government launched Space Force- a new branch of the US Armed Forces.
‘When Space Force was created some critics said it ‘militarised’ space but that misses the point that space has been militarised from the moment humanity first broke through the atmosphere.’ (p.130)
‘China and Russia view American advances in space as designed to maintain the USA’s dominant position on earth. In some respects they may be right. Similarly, the USA remains anxious that technological achievements by the other to will be used to further military prowess that threatens America- and it too has a point.’ (p.213)

We must remember that the history of space exploration has always been about superpowers. ��‘It was conflict on earth that finally got us there. The technology that took us to the heavens came from the arms race of the Cold War’. (p.27)

China Vs America?
America	China
As of early 2023 there were roughly 4900 active satellites in orbit; almost 3000 of them American and about 500 of them Chinese.	Each year this century China has increased the number of engineers who graduate whilst in the USA there has been a year on year decrease.
In the 1960s NASA’s annual expenditure was 4% of government spending. Today is is roughly 0.5%. However, the US encourages privately funded space exploration. In 2010 SpaceX became the first private company to launch, operate and recover a spacecraft.	China intends to launch at least 1000 satellites over the next decade. It will increasingly offer its services to developing countries that cannot afford to launch rockets or have satellites of their own.
Americans have debated whether or not to go back to the moon ever since the last human landing in 1972. In a poll, the majority of Americans believe China is a ‘major threat’ to US leadership in space and want to maintain US dominance. In 2021 only 24% of respondents said that NASA’s budget was too high.	The debate of whether or not go get to the moon is absent in China where it is taken as a given that space exploration is a vital part of national development. Xi Jinping has declared that his country plans to overall all nations and become the leading space power by 2024.

Thinking synoptically about superpowers and space

Soft power
Spheres of influence
Interdependence
Geostrategy / geopolitics

Where does Russia fit in?
It was the Soviet Union that achieved the first man in space and Russia has long been a superpower in space. However, despite Russia and the USA collaborating on the International Space Station since 1998, the invasion of Ukraine saw the end of that with the American sanctions against Moscow. � The events of 2022 make it more likely that Russia will step away from exploration and concentrate on military applications in space. � Russia and China have plans to build an International Lunar Research Station on the surface and / in the orbit of the Moon by 2035.

‘The ability of the USA to project military power today is based almost entirely on space support. This includes precision guidance, intelligence and surveillance and the political will to act that comes from the illusion of perfect knowledge of enemy deployments and intentions.’ (p.200)