The Case for an Allied Space Forces

Far out in geosynchronous orbit, a Russian satellite moves through deep space. Cosmos 2533, nicknamed “Sput-nuke,” is designed to carry a nuclear payload that could render most satellites unusable. Meanwhile, China is pouring billions of dollars into developing advanced space capabilities, including anti-satellite weapons. 

These weapons, known as ASATs, could change modern life on Earth as we know it—threatening GPS, weather forecasting, geospatial intelligence, and more. Also at stake is the burgeoning $1.8 trillion space economy that relies on open and free access to space.

The principles of a free, open, and peaceful space are enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which all major space powers have ratified, including the U.S., Russia, and China. The U.S. had sought to build on that landmark treaty when it launched the Artemis Accords in 2020, which 54 countries have so far signed on to. But the refusal of Russia and China to get on board—alongside the Kremlin’s veto last year of the first ever U.N. Security Council resolution on outer space, which condemned the placing of weapons of mass destruction in orbit—are a sure as sign as any that a new approach is needed.

That is why it is time for the U.S. to lead a new military alliance—an Artemis Alliance, or Allied Space Forces—to do exactly that.

China’s space ambitions are hegemonic and virtually limitless. “To explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry, and build China into a space power is our eternal dream,” Xi Jinping said in China’s most recent space strategy. According to the Pentagon, Beijing has devoted “significant resources” to all aspects of its space program, including counter-space weapons.

Russia, which has been cannibalizing its space program for missile parts, still maintains interests in outer space. But with a test of a space weapon that endangered its own cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station in 2021 and the subsequent launch of Cosmos 2553 in 2022, as well as an attack-capable satellite in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite in 2024, Moscow appears to have shifted toward an apocalyptic mindset: if it cannot control space, nobody should.

The Artemis Alliance should not, of course, replace the Outer Space Treaty. A defense alliance would instead be a coalition of like-minded countries whose goal is to uphold the peaceful use of space. Ultimately, an Artemis Alliance would add hard power credibility to the soft power norms and principles shaped by the 1967 accord, essentially giving it “teeth.”

The Alliance would seek to deter and defeat offensive space capabilities, condemn any attempts to render space unusable in international fora, and impose tangible violations that include sanctions—from export controls on the low end to military action on the high end.

It would consist of the U.S. and friendly spacefaring nations that Washington already has reciprocal defense treaties with, such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and the U.K. The long-term goal would be to expand membership to emerging spacefaring partners that do not yet have reciprocal defense treaties with the U.S., such as India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Such an alliance would also align with the 2020 National Space Policy that the Trump Administration issued in its first term, and which stated that the U.S. shall “strengthen deterrence and assure allies and partners of its commitment to preserving the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of space activities.” An alliance is the most powerful and effective mechanism to ensure the U.S. has the ability to create and shape norms—a mechanism more powerful than treaties.

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To be sure, some countries may hesitate to align civilian space activities with a military alliance. For most, space symbolizes bold aspirations of scientific research and exploration—not warfare. There would likely be concerns that joining a military alliance would contradict the spirit of the Outer Space Treaty.

Yet the U.S. Navy justifies its efforts to ensure the free flow of trade under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Therefore, an Artemis Alliance is justified as a necessary enforcement mechanism. And unlike UNCLOS, the U.S. Senate ratified the Outer Space Treaty, which makes it legally binding in America.

The threats today are kinetic and offensive, not just ideological. According to USSPACECOM, China is rapidly developing counter-space weapons “like direct-ascent antisatellite missiles, lasers, and jammers” and unveiled in 2024 a “novel microwave weapon that could target satellites.” Meanwhile, Russia has declared military satellites as legitimate targets and already in 2025 used electronic weapons to cause “flight diversions and Global Positioning System inaccuracies.” Ignoring these threats and relying solely on existing norms for protection is not an effective countermeasure.