Global #communication #infrastructure is at the center of a geopolitical battle as nations and corporations strategize for security and control over #underseacables, #satellite networks, and #internet access. With privately owned systems like #Starlink and OneWeb revolutionizing connectivity, security risks, ownership disputes, and the potential for strategic manipulation are key issues in a hyperconnected world.

Building space policy is hard enough. It’s harder when trying to make a future-focused policy decision based on abstract concepts. That’s really the problem with the space critical infrastructure conversation, isn’t it? When we talk about space services, we look at what we know, which is low Earth orbit (LEO), and services provided from LEO assets to Earth. We talk considerably less about cislunar travel or interplanetary travel even though there are plans for both in the less than distant future. The difference is that one is real today and one is abstract.

Many in the United States are just beginning to fully understand the role services from space-based assets play in their everyday lives. These services do not simply impact individuals but businesses, militaries, critical infrastructure, and more. As more satellites are placed in orbit, and the cost per kilogram for space launches falls, experts and novices alike are increasingly engaging in calls to designate space as critical infrastructure.

Quoted in the article.

“While America continues to grow its commercial space opportunities, our adversaries will also seek to disrupt the advantages the space economy will bring,” the document states. “The Department must therefore support America’s expanding space ecosystem by recognizing its importance to the security of the homeland and through a DHS Space Policy that defines and updates DHS’s role in this important domain.”