"Allow people to live on other planets," says the slogan of SpaceX, perhaps the most important company in space today.
The space has remained in our collective imagination as a distant place and alien to humanity, a constant mystery that dwarfs our existence.
However, outer space has ceased to be a limit for humanity.
Since the arrival of man to the moon, outer space became a common and achievable frontier, the incredible technological advances have allowed us to venture deeper into the magnificent immensity of our universe.
The increasing warlike capacity of humanity, in the midst of the desire for world domination during the period of the cold war forced the UN to present a Treaty on Outer Space in order to regulate the exploration and use of outer space (including the Celestial Bodies), thus highlighting the peaceful purposes of these operations and leaving space as a common heritage for all The humanity.
This consideration at that time dissuaded the United States and the Soviet Union in the midst of their escalation of war, to limit the negative consequences of their space career.
After the end of the cold war and the progressive advance of technology, it seemed then that the global space program would focus towards common and peaceful ends, however, the result is another. Innovations in space have managed to bring the outer space closer to our lives, the use of satellites and the proliferation of private companies in space have made it clear that space is no longer so far away.
The perfect example, the United States has regularly coordinated secret missions with the company of mogul Elon Musk (SpaceX), to place artifacts in space, within the framework of the "Zuma" mission. A mission that aroused global curiosity, by hermeticism and lack of explanation on the part of those involved.
Likewise, on June 18 of this year, President Donald Trump ordered the creation of a sixth branch of the US Army: the Space Force.
"To defend the United States it is not enough to have a presence in space, we must have control of space," said Trump, who in turn argued months ago that space is a war domain like any other.
And to the surprise of many, this should not be considered a crazy idea, since the decision of the US president does not respond to the growing Russian and Chinese activity in this area.
According to reports prepared by the National Intelligence Center of the United States, collected by Space, China and Russia have worked on the development of anti-satellite weapons to counteract the American advantage.
Weapons that although they invite us to think about a distant future, ensure that they reach their operational capacity in the next two years.
Brian Weeden, an analyst at Secure World Foundation has expressed that "The Chinese arsenal is composed of missiles, inhibitors or disruptors capable of creating interferences, and lasers to dazzle and blind images satellites. As for Russia, he says there is evidence that they are developing the Nudol missile, to reach targets in orbit, and that it has resurrected a Cold War laser system called A-60, and that it is capable of blinding satellites. "
To this concern on the part of the analysts, is added the possible creation of a Space Station Russian-Chinese : a joint orbital observatory. China and Russia share the ambition to reach the moon in the mid-1920s, so they cooperate closely to compensate for the American advantage.
Neglected or not, for the great powers, the domain of outer space is not a game. The next two decades will witness a tough fight for the conquest of our closest border.
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