Why The U.S. Space Force Will Be A Lot Like The U.S. Coast Guard

Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump signed into existence the U.S. Space Force I have been thinking about how it would operate, the tactics and strategies it would use, and exactly what its role would be.

So far I have written three posts on this topic:

• Space Warfare - The Weapons Systems and The Targets
• Stealth In Space Warfare (Hint: There Isn't Any)
• Space Warfare - An Area Denial Strategy For Poor Countries

In these posts I outline the fact that stealth in space is impossible because all objects above a temperature of absolute zero will emit thermal radiation and therefore be visible. They will also blot out the stars and galaxies behind them and their positions will also be blatantly obvious.

I have also indicated that the first war in space will also be the last war in space because the massive debris fields generated by such a war will destroy any new rockets launching from Earth (i.e. the Kessler Syndrome.

I have also postulated that any rich country that is overly aggressive in space can be easily denied access to space by a poor country. The poor country can (relatively) easily generate a massive Kessler debris field in very low Earth orbit and deny access to space for everybody on Earth.

Too bad, so sad.

In this post I am going outline arguments that the future U.S. Space Force will act more like a Coast Guard and less like Luke Skywalker and his rebel force of heroes.

What Is The Role of a Coast Guard?

In peacetime, the role of a traditional Coast Guard is to protect the coastal borders of its nation from other navies, to protect the coastal borders of its nation from illegal immigrants, to intercept suspected lawbreakers (drug smugglers, illegal fishing trawlers, poachers), to protect the marine environment and to rescue any vessels in distress.

In wartime the role of the Coast Guard becomes more aggressive and it can engage in wartime patrols and limited active naval engagements such as shore bombardment.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967

The Outer Space Treaty was created in 1967 and has been signed by almost every country.

The key points of this treaty are:

• The prohibition of weapons of mass destruction in space (i.e.nuclear weapons in Earth orbit, Moon orbit, on the Moon or any other celestial body).
• The use of the Moon and other celestial bodies for peaceful purposes only and the prohibition of military bases or other installations on the Moon and other celestial bodies.
• Governments are forbidden from claiming a celestial body entire (presumably limited mining claims and small territorial claims for civilian bases are allowed).
• Does not prohibit conventional weapons in orbit around the Earth or any other celestial body.
• Expresses that the exploration and use of space will be allowed for the benefit of all countries.

The Role of a U.S. Space Force - Protecting The Interests Of The USA In Space

Launch costs have recently been brought down dramatically by SpaceX with the promise of further reductions over the next few years. Other countries will no doubt follow suit and this means that space could be a place of a major economic activities.

Lots of humans and lots of economic activity means lots of laws and lots of laws being broken. The U.S. Space Force will be kept busy doing the following jobs.

Job #1: Protecting U.S. Civilian Bases and Mining Claims

Keeping the limitations of the Outer Space Treaty in mind it seems likely that the U.S. Space Force will be kept busy simply enforcing American claims on the Moon, planets and asteroids. However a claim is going to registered it will need someone to enforce it. One cannot simply stake a mining claim on asteroid only to have several other countries show up in a few months to start the same ore body.

Job #2: Protect The Environment

Let's imagine that in the future a country may decide to scatter its nuclear waste on the Moon or some asteroid (due to the large delta-v considerations shooting waste into the Sun is actually too expensive but that is a topic for another post).

No one wants the environment of the Moon contaminated with hazardous radioactive waste laying around on the surface of the Moon. What about future generations who may want to establish a base in the area?

Who is going to stop this? The U.S. Space Guard of course.

Any future Space Force ships will need to have very high delta-v capabilities so that they can interdict any rogue shipments heading for the Moon or elsewhere.

Job #3: Search and Rescue

It is hard to hide in space so the search part of search and rescue is easy, just send out a radar ping and the ship in trouble will show up on your screen. However the rescue part will be harder.

As mentioned in Job #2, any future Space Force ships will need to have very high delta-v capabilities so that they can quickly intercept any ship in distress. The ships will also need to have lots of spare berths, extra oxygen and extra food for the rescued crew.

Job #4: "Coastal" Bombardment

The ocean-going US Coast Guard has engaged in coastal bombardment during times of war. The same role could be assigned to a Space Force as long as it does not use weapons of mass destruction.

In the case of a Space Force, kinetic energy weapons could bombard military installations and other infrastructure on Earth at a moments notice. The energy in a kinetic weapon is so high that explosives are not needed, they would be redundant and quite frankly and unwanted hazard on any Space Force ship.

Job #5: Interdiction Duties

The outer space treaty limits many activities, the U.S. Space Force could intercept and inspect any ships that are suspected of breaking those laws. Any ships violating a law and making a run for it would have to be disabled without creating a large debris field so that future space navigation is not degraded.

Maybe lasers or non-nuclear EMPs will be developed for this role.

Closing Words

So as my other posts have made clear, a hot war in space is a capital B, bad idea but a Space Force that is geared more towards a Coast Guard role actually makes sense.

Fifty years after the first Moon landing, it is finally looking like humans will be going to space in a big way. Lots of humans and lots of economic activity means lots of laws and lots of laws being broken. Humans are humans after all.

I am sure that the U.S. Space Force and other nations' Space Forces will be kept busy for centuries to come.

Thank you for reading my post.

Post Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty