US should secure strategic position between Earth and Moon before China

Recently, the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Communist Party of China released a report called “Reset, Prevent, Build: A Strategy for Winning the United States’ Competition with the Chinese Communist Party.”

One of the recommendations concerns how the U.S. military can secure the Lagrangian points between the Earth and the Moon (areas where the Earth’s and Moon’s gravity cancel each other out) from the Chinese military.

“Funding critical NASA and Department of Defense programs to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s malign ambitions in space, including ensuring that the United States becomes the first country to permanently deploy assets at all Lagrange points. provide.”

The committee is leaving NASA and the Department of Defense to figure out what those assets are and how they will secure the Lagrangian points.

The Ars Technica article suggests placing satellites at points L1 and L2, near the moon, and at points L4 and L5, 60 degrees before and after the moon’s 360-degree orbit around the Earth. Masu. These satellites can be used for communications relay, navigation, observation, etc.

China has already deployed the Queqiao satellite to L2 on the far side of the moon, relaying communications between lunar probes and Earth.

In the future, the goal of securing the Lagrangian points of the Earth and the Moon will not be achieved simply by satellites. Satellites may malfunction. They may even be grieved by the actions of their enemies, secretly or openly.

That’s where SpaceX Starship comes in.

Starship, a massive rocket being developed by SpaceX at its Starbase facility in south Texas, can lift 150 tons into low Earth orbit and refuel to fly to the moon or Mars. It’s the epicenter of NASA’s plans to land astronauts on the moon and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s dreams of building a Mars settlement.

With a few tweaks, Starship could be the perfect vehicle for Congress’ mission to secure the Lagrange points between Earth and the moon.

NASA plans to phase out the International Space Station, and discussions are already underway to replace it with one or more commercially operated space stations. One such concept involves equipping Starship as a space station that can be launched at once, rather than launching and assembling multiple modules.

One way to use Starships to secure Lagrangian points between Earth and the Moon is to use Starship-derived space stations less frequently, and the U.S. Navy to secure trade routes and strategic points at sea to protect trade routes. The idea is to use starships in the same way you would park warships. To raise a flag off the coast of an enemy country.

Starship will be equipped with all the communications repeaters, navigation equipment, and observation equipment that came with earlier satellites. They will also be armed for self-defense, as the enemy (read: China) is likely to object to their presence in strategic locations in Moon-Star space.

In order to employ Starship as a long-term spacefaring warship stationed at Lagrange Point, two problems must be solved.

The first problem is propellant boil-off caused by the heating of cryogenic fuels such as liquid oxygen or liquid methane used in spacecraft. This problem can be addressed by passive insulation, active cooling of the propellant, or a combination of both.

Another question is what kind of defensive weapons these Space Force spacecraft should be equipped with. The White House has banned testing of missiles and other projectile weapons because they can produce space debris from their targets. Direct energy lasers, cyberweapons, or radio jamming would be preferable to neutralize rather than destroy the threatening spacecraft. Vehicles that can latch on to enemy space assets and move them safely away would also work, especially after the enemy has become inert.

Spacecraft may be crewed or unmanned. Spacecraft crews can spend their time experimenting and developing technology for defense needs. Also, periodically, the entire spaceship can be brought back to Earth to be repaired and refitted, and replaced with another spaceship.

Congressional orders to secure the Lagrangian points of the Earth and the Moon will provoke accusations from certain quarters that we are weaponizing space. However, China is still developing anti-satellite weapons, and space is already weaponized.

A strategy of securing Lagrangian points between Earth and the Moon with armed ships would help maintain peace with the power of space, rather than enforcing treaties alone that could be broken at any time.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, writes,Why is it so difficult to return to the moon?” Similarly “To the moon, Mars and beyond”, and more recently”Why will America return to the moon?” He blogs at: Karma John’s Corner.