Russia walks out on the ISS

Russia has announced it will be withdrawing from the International Space Station (ISS) by 2025, ending more than two decades of cooperation with the US in space.

The withdrawal is the culmination of increased clashes between Russia and the US — cyber-attacks, election meddling and geopolitical disputes over the Crimean Peninsula have all contributed to a steep decline in relations. Now, with space becoming the new battleground for global supremacy and strategic dominance, the two global superpowers are set to take diverging paths forward.

The US continues to expand its ‘Space Force’ ambitions through a blossoming partnership with Elon Musk’s Space X, which saw its first successful human space launch with NASA in 2020.

The US is also set to continue working with the European Space Agency aboard the ISS, whereas Russia is awaiting the green light from Putin to build its own space station in time for 2030. Coupled with the memorandum it signed with China last month to jointly build a base on the surface of the moon, it would appear the battle lines for space domination have now been drawn.

Though the impending rise of a new era of geopolitical space wars may seem trivial to some, others will rightly be feeling an unnerving sense of trepidation — a wrong turn, or a hostile act, could have devastating consequences for the critical satellite infrastructure above us, which provides everything from GPS technology to operating systems for nuclear weapons.

The battle for space dominance is more important than we realise.

Trafalgar Strategy is a strategic communications consultancy that advises clients on reputation and media management, campaigns, public affairs and other complex communication challenges.

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