Celestial Deterrence: Deterring Aggression in the Global Commons of Space

Abstract

Preventing war in space is of the utmost importance because of the lasting effects such a war would have. Deterrence by denial is difficult for the four types of attacks against space assets: kinetic, non-kinetic physical, electromagnetic, and cyber. However, deterrence by punishment, specifically through horizontal escalation, is viable for kinetic attacks. International norms and a deterrence policy for kinetic attacks need to be developed. Additional effort is necessary to mature attribution and defense capabilities for the other types of attack and, possibly, to extend the theory and practice of deterrence to these types of attacks.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 28, 2018
Accession Number
AD1062004

Entities

People

  • Eric J. Zarybnisky

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Cold War
  • Command And Control
  • Communication Satellites
  • Cyberattacks
  • Deterrence
  • Earth Orbits
  • Geosynchronous Orbits
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • Military Satellites
  • National Security
  • Situational Awareness
  • Space Situational Awareness
  • United States Strategic Command
  • War Games

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Geodesy
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Cyber
  • Cyber - Legality in Cyberspace
  • Space