Australia Is Launching a New Space Command—Are We Entering an Actual ‘Star Wars’ Era?

Let’s not get ballistic.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton is warning against space as “a new realm for conflict” and is launching an Australian space command.

It brings together air force, navy and army personnel and is headed by Air Vice-Marshal, Cath Roberts, the most senior female aerospace engineer in the Australian Defence Force.

Image: Science and Technology Australia

What’s prompted this, you may ask? In speech extracts distributed from his office, Dutton claims “it’s a necessary endeavour with a view to protecting our national interests and our need for a space force in the future.”

There are a couple of other factors too, so let’s break it down.

Dangerous space activity.

Dutton is expected to announce in a speech that space “is becoming more congested and is already contested—particularly as the boundaries between competition and conflict become increasingly blurred through grey-zone activities”.

Space is critical to Defence operations.

Our Joint Force relies on access to space systems and info, as do the Australian public.

To achieve our strategic space vision & assure our access to space, Defence has created Defence Space Command.

Learn more: https://t.co/X3XwQadlmF pic.twitter.com/nflPbQqL9e

— Royal Australian Air Force (@AusAirForce) March 22, 2022

He’s referring, for one, to more than 7,500 satellites currently orbiting the Earth, with thousands being launched each year.

And secondly, Dutton notes that “some countries are developing capabilities to threaten or degrade space networks, to target satellites, and to destroy space systems”, referring specifically to a Russian anti-satellite missile test in November 2021.

Russia “destroyed its own redundant Kosmos 1408, which left behind a cloud of more than 1,500 pieces of lethal debris that will take decades to clear”. It was denounced by the head of NASA as “unconscionable” and a threat to the safety of seven astronauts onboard the International Space Station.

Allies are developing their space programs.

With lots of space stuff in the works, it seems the world is gearing up for infinity and beyond.

The US National Reconnaissance Office is an intelligence agency that gathers information through satellites. Dutton is announcing that they have committed to a range of cooperative satellite activities with Australia.

Australia and India are also set to develop their space ties, with a $25 million plan in the works.

Space isn’t so unreachable anymore, and Australia and its allies are determined to not let it be “a territory for (the) taking” of others. Just us, or is it starting to feel like we’re in a sci-fi movie?