August 14, 2020
Russia and China Playing Musical Chairs in Zero Gravity
As SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket hurled the Dragon capsule and its two astronauts into orbit, marking the first human spaceflight from U.S. soil since 2011 and the first ever for a commercial company, Russia saw its monopoly on putting humans in space fade rapidly into the background. Coupled with the return of human spaceflight to the United States, China continues its march toward its own sustained human spaceflight with its Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket and new spacecraft initiative. Russia, who is unique in having close ties to both U.S. and Chinese space programs, stands at a crossroads. Russia can seek greater cooperation in space with China and risk losing technology, or risk losing any benefit it could gain from greater cooperation and still watch China pull ahead. Regardless of the trajectory the Sino-Russian relationship takes, there are significant implications for U.S. national security.
American defense planners need to not overinflate the threat of Russian-Chinese cooperation, but still understand and plan for those areas where their combined efforts might lead to new capabilities.
Russia and China currently cooperate in space for material benefit, broader strategic foreign policy goals, and potential military benefits. However, their space cooperation, just like defense cooperation, is constrained by a level of mistrust, the need to protect defense-related technologies, and disparities in economic strength and priorities.
Read the full article in War on the Rocks.
More from CNAS
-
What’s Driving President Trump’s New Confidence in Ukraine’s War Effort
President Trump dramatically declared on social media that he now believes that Ukraine can reclaim all its land from Russia, which he described as a paper tiger. From the Ova...
By Richard Fontaine
-
Europe Must Counter Cheap Drones with Cheap Solutions, Ex-NATO Commander Says
NATO must find cheaper ways to counter the growing threat of Russian drone incursions, the former Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove, has said. Speakin...
By General Philip M. Breedlove
-
Brussels Sprouts LIVE: Europe with Less U.S.: Preventing Russia Opportunistic Aggression in Europe
Despite the degradation of Moscow’s military in Ukraine, senior western officials estimate that it could reconstitute its forces within two to five years. A new CNAS report co...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
‘The U.S. Has Got to Get Involved’: Townsend on NATO Boosting Polish Air Defences
Jim Townsend, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, discusses what actions NATO countries need to take amidst Russia’s incursions of NATO airspace.W...
By Jim Townsend