Original Sin and Astropolitics

The 486 Flight Testing Squadron patch has this catchphrase: "NON-SEMPER EA SUNT QUAE VIDENTUR." Meaning: not always what they seem." For the public, the squadron is "simply" a section of the Air Force whose function is to test. But, actually is more than that...

My paper titled: "Radio Telescope in Arecibo: Few References in Puerto Rico on Background and Classified Research During the First Years of Operations" argued that the real motivation for constructing the observatory was for military and intelligence purposes. Something similar to the motto of the 486 Flight Testing Squadron happened with Arecibo.

Comparable idea, but with a comprehensive overview, Bleddyn E. Bowen (Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Leicester, specializing in space policy and military uses of outer space) reveals in his book: "Original Sin; Power, Technology, and War in Outer Space."

Bowen describes "Original Sin" (analogy from the Bible that bondage to sin that afflicts all humankind after that) as a tool for warfare, intelligence gathering, and self-interested political-economic power from the major players of the Space Age (U.S., Russia, China, Europe, India, Japan, and other emerging space nations such as Israel, North Korea, and Iran) that was born from the military-industrial complexes as they expanded into nuclear missile-space technologies.

“Space is not a new or emerging military and security issue. Earth orbit has always been a place of military exploitation and economic competition since satellites began flying above the atmosphere,” (Bowen)

By the word "Astopolitics," he refers to the political aspects of any activity in or to do with outer space. Also, he affirms that space programs have never been able to transcend terrestrial international politics.

The book is organized via three arguments:

1. Space technology was not developed for the benefit of all humanity due to the political objectives of the main actors. Instead, it was conceived to achieve military and intelligence goals to advance geopolitical power. He asserts that civil (e.g., NASA) and military use space technologies as dual-use, meaning for civil and commercial applications alongside intelligence and military purposes. Regarding the dual use, the author takes the U.S. Space Shuttle, initially designed and funded to meet the Pentagon's and Intelligence Community's needs as an example, among others.
2. At present, space technology is a global one not limited to the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. More than 80 states, wealthy and poor, are using it. Bowen also introduces the concept of techno-politics as the political and social values that the creators of technology put into the machines they create and build for specific reasons and to benefit particular people and groups, illustrating that the original sin of space technology is an omnipresent social reality in humanity's technopolitical presence in outer space.
3. For this argument, let us look at the observations of Jeff Foust (The Space Review, March 6, 2023.) "The third, and perhaps most intriguing, the argument takes aim at the longstanding belief of space as the "high ground" or even "ultimate high ground" for warfare. Bowen dismisses that concept—which dates back at least to 1958, in comments by then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson—as "vacuous" and one that "leads to mechanistic and limited strategic thought." A better model, he argues, is one of littoral combat, seeing Earth orbit as a "cosmic coastline" where satellites operate in support of activities on Earth, while also being subject to attack from the ground as well as space" (he is sharply critical of those who express "more apparent discomfort at the prospect of destroying expensive machines in space than killing people on Earth.").

A concrete example that illustrates the extension of the dual use and the original sin today are the findings of the research conducted by Eduardo Baptista and Greg Torode: "Studying Ukraine war, China's military minds fret over U.S. missiles, Starlink." Let's see:

Half a dozen papers by PLA researchers highlight Chinese concern at the role of Starlink, a satellite network developed by Elon Musk's U.S.-based space exploration company SpaceX, in securing the communications of Ukraine's military amid Russian missile attacks on the country's power grid.

"The excellent performance of 'Starlink' satellites in this Russian-Ukrainian conflict will certainly prompt the U.S. and Western countries to use 'Starlink' extensively" in possible hostilities in Asia, said a September article co-written by researchers at the Army Engineering University of the PLA.

The authors deemed it "urgent" for China - which aims to develop its similar satellite network – to find ways to shoot down or disable Starlink. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

Finally, all of this suggests that any project regarding space technology has a low probability of being found if dual use is not inherent in its design.