Space war

A recent post on twitter got me thinking. The cold war space race was about nuclear offensive and deffesnive capabilities. Who can target who from where, who can see or shoot down a missile from where.

Today, the information age, the next battle for space will likely be about communications. Governments are increasingly looking at internet infrastructure as a national security issue. Authoritarian governments are leading the charge on building "great firewalls" to control their citizens access to information.

Satellite based internet providers like Starlink circumvent those controls. They provide access to areas cables can't go, but they are also security threats in nations where that infrastructure is an essential constraint allowing the government to censor the way they wish. Satellite providers will have to conform to local rules, or become threats that have to be contained. Keeping eyes on this space as more satellite providers rollout, and regimes build capabilities to deny access to them in various ways.