2024-01-11T06:59:31+00:00
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/ US Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, confirmed today, Thursday, that her country aims to prevent conflicts in space through deterrence, while indicating that recent conflicts have demonstrated the indispensable role of space in Washington’s defense capabilities.
Hicks said in a speech she delivered during the inauguration of the US Space Command, to General Stephen Whiting, that “the United States is committed to preventing conflicts through deterrence, by making clear to competitors that the costs of any aggression will far outweigh any conceivable benefits,” explaining that “conflicts are not inevitable in Space or anywhere else.
It revealed that Russia and China are deploying capabilities that allow targeting “geographical positioning systems and vital space systems, as part of attempts to reduce the space military advantage of the United States and its allies.”
“The US Space Command plays a critical role in helping to develop, innovate, promote, and promote practices that support safety, stability, security, and sustainability in space,” according to Hicks.
The official stated that the US Department of Defense has launched “a growing constellation of small-sized satellites that are more flexible and less expensive than previously launched,” noting that the commercial space industry in the United States has enabled “Washington to surpass China’s growth in space launches and payloads over the course of the five years.” past”.
She added in a statement published by the US Department of Defense, the Pentagon, that China doubled its annual space launches during the years 2019 to 2023, and more than tripled the number of payloads it placed in orbit.
She said that at the same time, “annual American space launches have more than quadrupled, while launched American payloads have increased by about 13 times.”
While China has launched about 240 space payloads, which may carry spacecraft, people, communications equipment, or satellites, the United States has launched more than 2,500 space payloads.
She pointed out that the US Department of Defense is investing more in space, which means “the superiority of the entire United States will grow.”
Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Navy, Admiral Christopher Grady, said at the event that the US Space Command, which includes 18,000 people, “embodies the United States’ commitment to excellence and leadership in space” in order to maintain superiority in space, “strengthen international partnerships, and protect American interests in space.” Infinite space.
He stressed that “recent conflicts clearly demonstrated the indispensable role of space in Washington’s defense capabilities,” noting that space is “an integral part of national security.”
Former US President, Donald Trump, ordered the formation of the “Space Force” in 2018, out of his desire to secure the Pentagon’s readiness and ensure US dominance in space, according to Agence France-Presse.
Trump said at the time, “Space is the new war front in the world,” adding, “This is an incredible thing. It is a big step.”
The Space Force Command has become the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces, after the Ground Forces, the US Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard.
American dominance in space faces a threat from Russia and China, which have developed their technological capabilities. Threats range from jamming communications and GPS satellites to targeting a satellite with a surface-to-air missile, which China successfully tested in 2007, according to the Pentagon.