United States-China Space Offensive: A Dangerous Competition

ABSTRACT With the rise of China and the resurgence of Russia in international politics, a new power politics has emerged between the Great Powers, which has extended the arenas of power competition. One such significant and emerging area for the strategic competition is space, as it holds the key to the projection and protection of all forms of power. The paper explores the contours of the emerging space competition between the United States and China and its ramifications. It argues that the emerging commercialization of space will cause legal, political, and environmental issues due to its satellite saturation, space debris, and high competition for space dominance. This competition encompasses various sectors including space tourism, space mining, exploration of Mars, and militarization, weaponization, and territorialization of space. This study attempts to critically view the power competition in space through the lens of offensive realism, proposing that the desire for ‘power in space for states’ hegemony has led to a security dilemma between United States and China, which has far-reaching consequences for international peace and stability.