Matt Brady
12/6/2023
Final Exam
The point of the Space Force is to protect the United State’s interests in space. As mentioned in
the article, space was once the United States’ “soft ribs”. The Space Force is not always taken seriously.
There is even a comedy show about it. The Space Force aims to prevent a war from happening in space.
The Space Force trains military personnel for military conflict in space. The Space Force protects the
three rings above Earth. In these three rings, there are over 9000 different satellites and technologies
that serve multiple important purposes. The Space Force tracks all movement in these three rings,
including the satellites and debris. The Space Force oversees defending the United States’ satellites and
other important technologies from other countries and natural space debris. If a satellite is damaged, it
could destroy GPS and other communication systems.
The tension between the United States, Russia, and China is one of the reasons for the Space
Force’s existence. China created an explosion in space in 2007 and there are still pieces of the satellite in
orbit today. You can’t remove these pieces of debris from orbit, and they become hazardous. If one of
these pieces knocks out a satellite, this could knock out military operations. Space is becoming a
profitable place. With companies like Lockheed Martin and Boing making parts for Satellites, there will
be Chinese and Russian companies that want to make money off this space as well. This will create even
more tension between the three most powerful countries.
To summarize, the United States Space Force’s purpose is to be able to defend American
interests and property in space.
Space is the final frontier of international relations because it is the last area that has not been
fought over. Most of the land and waterways on Earth have been negotiated over. There are
international laws that dictate which countries have control over the waterways and the land. There are
international laws on how the waterways and land should be treated, such as the Paris Climate
Agreement. The air space above countries (accessible by plane) is set and most countries respect these
boundaries.
There is very little policy on which countries control space. There are no international laws on
space. No country owns the space above another country. This makes space a vulnerable place for
international relations, as there are no laws about it.
The point of the Space Force is to prevent military statecraft from being used. If the great powers
cannot agree on common rules in our orbit, then the Space Force may be forced to use military action in
space, therefore ending foreign policy and damaging international relations. Technically, China already
committed an act of aggression in 2007 with the explosion of one of it satellites. This created hazards for
the United States and other countries to deal with.
Currently, we live in a multi-polar world, with the United States, China, and Russia being the top
three powers of the world. One of the main points of the Space Force is to hold China and Russia in their
place and to maintain the status quo. China violated the status quo in 2007 by exploding a satellite and
causing thousands of pieces of debris to potentially harm US technologies. The Space Force serves as a
security mechanism to protect against the uncertainty of what the other superpowers will do in space.
There is so much uncertainty about space because it is a new frontier. The recent developments
in technology have allowed humans to access this new space. There must be international laws made to
lay the ground rules of this new territory. Space is the last area of territory for humans to discover.