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May 21st, 2025 | 1:47 AM ET

Space: A Final Frontier for National Security?

The U.S.-China competition is intensifying beyond the bounds of Earth

JIUQUAN, CHINA – APRIL 24: A Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft and a crew of three astronauts, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on April 24, 2025 in Jiuquan, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
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Posted: April 25th, 2025

By The Cipher Brief

EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The domain of space has become essential to 21st-century life, given the extent to which communications and  navigation are now reliant on space-based systems. That reliance has made space a strategic domain as well — one where geopolitical competition on Earth is increasingly projected, and which is being weaponized in preparation for potential conflicts. It’s a future that not long ago would have seemed the stuff of science fiction; today, experts say, it’s all too real.

For years, the key players in this beyond-earth domain have been the U.S. and Russia – not surprising, given the histories of the American and Soviet space programs. The new power is China, which has made strides in space much as it has in many areas here on Earth. 

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