U.S. Cislunar Space Military Strategy

He Qisong

In June 2020， the Department of Defense of the United States issued the Defense Space Strategy and identified four strategic lines of efforts that include building a comprehensive military advantage in space， integrating space into national， joint， and combined operations， shaping the strategic environment and cooperating with allies， partners， industries and other U.S. government departments and agencies to achieve strategic， operational and tactical objectives in major power rivalry. In June 2021， the United States Space Force （USSF） published A Primer on Cislunar Space. This document put forward the concept of cislunar operations in the future and the development of new cislunar spacecraft， unveiling the United States attempts to control the cislunar space and marking a new stage of its pursuit of space hegemony.

CISLUNAR SPACE BECOMES THE NEW DOMAIN OF SPACE COMPETITION

The international competition in space is very intense. Besides the competition in space science， traditional commercial remote sensing and communications and space development standards， various actors have also entered fierce competition for space commercialization. In the space Internet of Things （IoT） and Internet， space tourism and （commercial） space station， state actors and non-state actors nudge each other to race towards the cutting edge of technologies and gain larger market shares. For example， through its Starlink strategy， SpaceX plans to launch 42，000 satellites to build the space IoT and the Internet. Through “Guowang” program， China aims to build its space-based Internet and IoT with a constellation of 12，992 satellites. As the space technology develops， the commercialization of space extends over the geostationary orbits （GEO） to the cislunar space， which includes the Moon， asteroids and other resources.

A new feature of the space competition in the 21st century is the participation in both public and private actors in the competition in cislunar space. It has become a practice of the past to manifest national strength or honor by Moon landing or planting a national flag on the Moon surface. Changes have taken place in the discourse power regarding space. The enormous space technological capability has given the United States a head start. It thus attempts to develop space norms that are favorable to itself and seeks changes in some existing norms. The Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources explicitly denies the outer space， including celestial bodies， as a “global commons” and also denies the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies， which is yet to be implemented， as an international customary law. In October 2020， the United States signed the Artemis Accords with Australia， Canada， Italy， Japan， Luxembourg， United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom， in which the Moon mining area is defined as a “safety zone”. The move， in essence， intends to seek the “sovereignty” of the Moon and other celestial bodies. Such practice of the United States will undoubtedly further intensify the international competition and rivalry for the cislunar space.

THE CISLUNAR SPACE HAS BECOME THE NEW FOCUS OF POWER RIVALRY

In addition to the possibility of realizing industrialization on the Moon， the cislunar space including the Moon has also become a new focus of power rivalry. The capability of Moon landing and industrial production on the Moon and in other cislunar space fully demonstrates that power politics has been extended to the cislunar space. The cislunar spatial structure and the evolution of power-control theory stand as more convincing proof of this new reality.

The Moon， as the Earths closest celestial neighbor， serves as the “midway island” for mankind to fly to the Moon and beyond. The Moon is the commanding height that controls the Earth and a relay station for mankind to march towards the Mars and other celestial bodies. Therefore， no wonder the United States encourages the exploration and use of the Moon and building of a Moon- Orbiting Space Station： in regard to （potential） military use， the Moon can be used to control the Earth; in regard to deep space exploration， the Moon can be used as a gateway to outer space beyond （which is why “Gateway” is included in the name of Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway）. Therefore， countries able to develop and use resources in the cislunar space including the Moon will stand at a more competitive position to develop more space technologies as well as technologies that enable them to gain command of the power over space beyond the terrestrial space， thus taking over the lead in the terrestrial space as well as the cislunar space.

In short， the cislunar space is gradually taking the place of the terrestrial space as a new commanding height. Peter Garretson， a retired U.S. Air Force officer and an independent strategy consultant dedicated to space and defense， believes that the cislunar space has become the commanding height and a new high ground for power politics and rivalry.

THE U.S. MILITARYS STRATEGIC VISION AND MEASURES TO CONTROL THE CISLUNAR SPACE

As the cislunar space gains increasing economic value and strategic importance， the U.S. Department of Defense continues its innovative approach to plan for assuming control， even long-term control， over the cislunar space. In view of this， the Department of Defense released the Defense Space Strategy in June 2020， in which the cislunar space is identified as the “new focus”. To convey this vision， the United States builds a comprehensive military advantage in space to achieve space superiority. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency （DARPA） of the U.S. Department of Defense takes the lead in research and development of space technologies and attracts contributions from the academic community and enterprises.

In July， 2020， American elites from all walks of life were invited to a video conference sponsored by the military （including the Department of Defense， the Air Force and the Space Force）. They discussed about such topics as extending the military operations beyond the Earths orbit to the “new high ground” of the cislunar space， advancing the strategic vision of the cislunar space and conducting operations in the cislunar space. After the meeting， U.S. Brigadier General Steven J. Butow and others submitted a report titled State of the Space Industrial Base 2020： A Time for Action to Sustain US Economic & Military Leadership in Space. The report points out that “as space activities expand on GEO， the first nation to establish transportation infrastructure and logistics capabilities serving GEO and cislunar space will have superior ability to exercise control of cislunar space and in particular the Lagrange points and the resources of the Moon.”“Lunar resources （including hydrogen/oxygen for propellant that enable cheaper mobility for civil， commercial and national security applications） are key for access to asteroid resources and Mars and to enable overall space commercial development.”“An increasing U.S. presence within an expanded cislunar economy will require security and a stabilizing military presence. Clarifying the USSF role in protecting and enabling U.S. commerce across cislunar space is critical.”“The USSF faces grave challenges to the cislunar space. The Moon and the cislunar space are critical ‘choke points must be controlled.”

If the U.S. military regards the terrestrial space as the “yellow water”， the cislunar space beyond the GEO is the “blue water”. Once the U.S. military controls the “yellow water” （by weaponizing the terrestrial space and equipping itself with the capability to attack all the satellites in the terrestrial space）， it is to inevitably build the “blue water navy” to control the cislunar space. Simon P. Worden， a retired Brigadier General of the U.S. Air Force and the former Director of the NASA Ames Research Center， believes that “the United States needs to posture space forces for the ‘blue water space， with the cislunar space first and then entire solar system.” Peter Garretson made similar statement， saying that “the cislunar space provides a huge maneuvering area that is difficult to monitor， similar to a deep-sea submarine.”

When it comes to the building of ? the “blue water navy” in the cislunar space， the U.S. military is so deeply influenced by Alfred Thaver Mahans theory of sea power. They replicate the command of seas through controlling sea routes and key islands to the cislunar space. David T. Burbach， a Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval War College pointed out that just as the navy protected overseas interests or the army protected the Westward Movement towards the 19th century， the U.S. military should show its presence in the cislunar space to give American enterprises and citizens a head start in the lunar gold rush， while preventing other nations from marginalizing Americans and ignoring their demands. The key to controlling the cislunar space is to control the “islands”， namely the Moon and Lagrange Point in this case. These “islands” are like such choke points as Straits of Malacca and the Strait of Hormuz， of which the U.S. Ocean Fleet must take control. “We need to tap the resources （such as fuel on asteroids） in the deep space to maintain operations there. With this in mind， we clearly see the military and economic necessity of identifying and protecting such resources.” Long-term control of the cislunar space needs the support of lunar industry. Just as the U.S. Ocean Fleet is bolstered by the powerful defense industry and frontier bases， it is unsustainable to transport materials from the Earth to the Moon or the cislunar space. “Without an equivalent plan to industrialize the Moon， the game is lost for the United States， even without fighting.”

Although the U.S. military has not explicitly announced its roadmap for controlling the cislunar space， it will deploy its space forces by generally copying Mahans theory of sea power. In April， 2019， the newly established Space Development Agency revealed the priority to extending situational awareness from the Earth up to lunar orbit while developing the means to efficiently and critically maneuvering in that area and doing whatever else it takes to dissuade adversaries from attempting to deny or degrade U.S. space-based capabilities. According to this priority， the U.S. Air Force issued a tender notice for the AFW-ERX technology accelerator in 2019， emphasizing that as the competition becomes ever more intense in the GEO and beyond， it is necessary to monitor this area to increase the awareness of the cislunar space. In addition， the program expected enterprises to work towards innovative solutions to addressing positioning， navigation， timing and visualization in the cislunar space.

In June 2021， the U.S. Air Force published A Primer on Cislunar Space， which systematically put forward the technical concepts and vision of controlling the cislunar space and kicked off relevant preparations. For example， in A Primer on Cislunar Space， an experiment called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System （CHPS） is championed by the Department of Defense， whereby cislunar space monitoring， navigation and communications technologies will be developed. In addition， the U.S. Space Force also signed an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration （NASA） to jointly advance the research and development of the cislunar space technologies to support the situational awareness; enable sustained near-Earth and cislunar operations; and manufacture， maintain and assemble cislunar spacecraft among other areas for cooperation.

As it looked for a solution to the cislunar transportation， the U.S. Department of Defense decided to adopt the highly cost-effective nuclear thermal propulsion to power the satellite fleet. In April 2021， the DARPA awarded contracts for three private enterprises （General Atomics， Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin）. They plan to demonstrate the nuclear-based propulsion system on a spacecraft in orbit by 2025 to address the long-time transportation in the cislunar space. The Department of Defense believes these three companies are capable of developing advanced nuclear reactors， propellers and spacecraft to meet their demand for rapid military maneuver. If the test succeeds， nuclear energy will power satellite systems in the cislunar space in the future.

The U.S. military believes that in order to solve the “island” supplies with the cislunar space and provide sustainable logistics for “blue water navy”， it is necessary to carry out necessary production of the Moon. For this reason， the DARPA launched the Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing， Materials， and Mass-efficient Design （NOM4D） program. This new initiative seeks to move adaptive manufacturing off Earth to create large， precise and flexible structures with greater stability， agility and adaptability. In the Artemis Accords， the U.S. government defined the “safety zones” to avoid other nations interference with the manufacturing on the Moon. Of course， the U.S. government didnt rule out the possibility of establishing military bases of the “safety zones” or militarizing the Moon.

In order to control the cislunar space， the U.S. military not only builds the cislunar space forces according to Mahans theory， but also seeks to occupy the high ground of discourse power， with the intention of “making a name for itself”. To this end， the United States spares no efforts to discredit Chinas and Russias lunar programs， claiming that “Chinese and Russian lunar programs pose security threats to the United States”. In March 2021， the New York Times published an article accusing the lunar research station to be jointly built by China and Russia of posing threats to the U.S. lunar program， but stopping short of clarifying what the specific threats are. Peter Garretson said that Chinas Change mission launched a relay satellite to the Lagrange Point as a node in a broader communications structure and China might put in place a cislunar space domain system as well. All these has laid a foundation for China to industrialize the Moon and will establish China as the dominant power on the Moon， thus posing threats to the United States. By fabricating the China threats， the United States is sinisterly adding fuel to its pursuit of militarizing， weaponizing and controlling of the cislunar space.