U.S. Cislunar Space Military Strategy

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 Earth’s 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. MILITARY’S 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.