NewSpace, Commercialization, and Warfare

Abstract The Ukraine invasion has highlighted most starkly the direct contribution that commercial space companies can make to military conflict. It demonstrates the impact of NewSpace companies on the security dynamics of outer space, and this marks a distinctive—and recent—change in the complexion of the space domain. Such capabilities were not available even 10 years ago. The innovative and entrepreneurial character of NewSpace is driving commercial space activities to expand and develop in every area of space operations, to the point where they now offer capabilities that were previously the exclusive preserve of the militaries of the Cold War space powers, and these can potentially be provided to a wide user set. This has whetted an appetite in Western militaries to leverage NewSpace capabilities. Nonetheless they are not a panacea, and there are some important aspects that need addressing before there is too great a reliance on NewSpace.