UK Rejoins The Space Race As History Repeats Itself

In 1983, the erstwhile POTUS Ronald Regan proposed a missile defence system in space and the media dubbed it Star Wars. Little did that generation realise how necessary it has become in our 21st century.

According to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, it has become increasingly important for the UK to pivot away from conventional defence and war strategies, bearing in mind that China is ‘developing offensive space weapons’, according to an article in the Daily Mail. This came a few days after the intelligence agencies in the UK and the USA had reported that Russia has seemingly been testing anti-satellite missiles.

Relations between Russia and the UK have been souring since an allegation made a few weeks ago about the Kremlin trying to steal valuable information about the coronavirus vaccine currently being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. On the other side of the world, relations with China are at an all-time low, after the British Government announced the suspension of its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. This followed the Chinese Government’s assault on free speech through its National Security Law, intended to demonise those protesting the CCP regime.

The idea that these two influential world powers could join hands to wreak havoc is not far-fetched at present, considering there is already a joint aerospace venture in place. The China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation Limited (CRAIC) is an aerospace company that is currently in a race to end the Airbus-Boeing duopoly of the commercial skies. CRAIC’s CR929 is meant to rival the industry’s latest widebody Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777X, with a launch expected in the next five years. Put simply, while Russia is expected to dispense the brainbox for the project, China will furnish the ducats.

The United States Space Force, formed due to the considerable foresight of the current POTUS, Donald J. Trump, have indicated their willingness to work with their closest ally in the Western hemisphere – Great Britain – in order to gain a technological advantage in a potential space Cold War. The words of the famous John F. Kennedy, “For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding. Yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first,” ring true even today, if space-faring tranquillity is to be maintained.