Space Wars: Will America and China Clash Over Resources?

Alex Calvo

Security, Economics, Space

Is the dispute over the South China Sea a harbinger of things to come—in space?

The end of 2015 witnessed three seemingly unrelated developments: the establishment of a space hotline between Washington and Beijing, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (Space Act), and the positive decision on jurisdiction by the arbitration court in Manila’s suit against Beijing concerning the South China Sea. The hotline seeks to minimize incidents arising from satellite operations and ASAT tests, while the legislation could pave the way to private exploration and exploitation of natural resources, including asteroid mining. The court decision, however, means that China’s claims and activities in the South China Sea will come under the scrutiny of an international judiciary. The question is whether the current confrontation between China and the United States concerning the legal status of the South China Sea is a harbinger of things to come in the space commons.