Star Power: US Preparing For A Space War With China

However, the report says that the question is how to take advantage of LEO constellations in the context of the USSF's new mission. It mentions that was demonstrated by the
Victus Nox mission , which showed the USSF's capabilities to launch a satellite within 24 hours of receiving a mission order.

While it is challenging to picture how a space war of attrition would transpire and play out, it would undoubtedly have profound strategic, political and military implications.

In a January 2022 article for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists , Henry Sokolsky mentions that a space war between the US and China would likely involve
hunter-killer satellites ,
dual-use commercial capabilities ,
ground-based electronic jammers , and cyber weapons and
lasers
designed to disable satellites without producing space debris.

The US Congressional Research Service (CRS) stated
in an August 2021 report
that China has tested and proven counter-space capabilities that threaten US and allied partners' satellites and national security.

Although the USSF is looking into the possibility of attrition in space, it faces challenges regarding doctrine, organization, training and personnel, funding and facilities in building the capabilities necessary to fight such a space war.

The USSF published its
doctrine
in June 2020 outlining US space power's guiding principles. It states that the US seeks a peaceful, secure, stable and accessible space domain, enabling freedom of action in other warfighting domains and contributing to international security.

It also says that US space forces protect, defend and project space power with close collaboration between the US, allies and partners. The doctrine describes space operations as global and multi-domain, requiring deliberate and synchronized defensive operations across all segments. It also stresses that the USSF values agility, innovation, and boldness, empowering small teams and prioritizing risk-taking opportunities for rapid learning and adaptation.

However, in the 2021 book War and Peace in Outer Space , Peter Hays points out that USSF doctrine is neither offensive nor strategic nor independent. Hays notes that the USSF may be force-fitting space doctrine into air doctrine despite the different operational characteristics of air and space domains.

Hayes mentions that the USSF must address fundamental questions about the operational characteristics of the space domain while being aware that few concepts in air or naval domains directly translate to the former.

He also suggests that the USSF borrow from limited or littoral perspectives on naval warfare instead of a global perspective, as the former two align more closely with the characteristics of current LEO space operations.

The USSF also faces the challenge of consolidating the US' fragmented space organizations and stakeholders.
A July 2016 report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO)
notes that there were then 60 stakeholders involved in US space acquisitions, noting that fragmented leadership and lack of a single authority in the acquisition of space programs has led to challenges in acquiring, developing and deploying new space systems.

In response,
the August 2023 Comprehensive Strategy for the Space Force
mentions that the USSF is in the process of preparing implementation plans to unify disparate acquisition and sustainment authorities for space systems currently distributed across the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), US Army, US Navy and several Office of the Secretary of Defense elements.

As for training and personnel challenges, Michael Spirtas and other writers mention in a
2020 RAND report
that the USSF will likely need to draw about half of its general officers from the US Air Force or other services for the foreseeable future.

Spirtas and others also say that given the USSF's small size, having personnel spend their entire careers there would be challenging. While many career fields would be organic to the USSF, many will be filled by US Air Force personnel on assignment, they say.

That could pose further challenges due to different organizational cultures between other armed service branches and the different levels of space-based expertise among personnel, which could affect the USSF's institutional identity and operational readiness.

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The USSF also faces significant funding challenges.
In a 2022 Space Foundation white paper , Megan Wenrich and other writers say that since October 2022 the USSF has relied on“continuing resolutions,” which keep money flowing at 2021 levels with no provisions for new programs.

Wenrich and others warn that such short-term budget measures could harm USSF plans, endangering US national defense as tensions rise with China and Russia.

The Pentagon asserts that“China and Russia present the greatest strategic threat due to their development, testing, and deployment of counter-space capabilities and their associated military doctrine for employment in conflict extending to space.” Credit: Handout.

The
US Department of Defense (DOD) notes
that the USSF's $30 billion budget request for fiscal year 2024 is about $3.9 billion over what was enacted for the service in fiscal 2023, with 60% of the USSF budget earmarked for research, development, testing and evaluation.

The January 2022 USSF Space Doctrine Note – Operations
mentions that terrestrial facilities such as launch, C2, continuity of operations (COOP) sites and radar stations are critical for space operations. However, it notes several threats to terrestrial facilities, such as directed energy attacks, cyberattacks, electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and old-fashioned physical attacks.

Tyler Bates
writes in a November 2022 article for Aether
that as the USSF explores new mission areas such as in-space logistics, space-to-terrestrial energy distribution, cislunar space operations and global point-to-point rocket logistics by the 2030s, establishing the necessary infrastructure and defenses to support and secure these missions will be a significant challenge.

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