Sandra Erwin
In Washington’s policy circles, warnings about America’s declining space dominance have become a familiar refrain. Yet these concerns are not mere bureaucratic hand-wringing — they reflect a reality that experts believe demands immediate attention.
Nearly seven decades after the Soviet Union’s Sputnik launch jolted America into the space age, the United States finds itself at another critical juncture. This time, however, the wake-up call isn’t a single blinking satellite but a series of escalating challenges that threaten the nation’s long-held supremacy in space.
Recent reports from think tanks paint a sobering picture. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) warns that the United States is “in danger of losing its privileged position in space,” while the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies highlights critical weaknesses in U.S. military space strategy.
Meanwhile, China’s rapid advancement in space technology and Russia’s increasingly aggressive actions — including testing anti-satellite weapons that created dangerous debris fields — signal a new era of space competition. These nations have developed sophisticated capabilities to disable or destroy U.S. space assets through various means, from cyberattacks to direct-ascent missiles.
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