The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 82, December 2026 Page 15 From the series Militarisation of space The first shot of the next war between the world's big powers, it is often said, will be fired in space. As conflict spreads on Earth, ill omens are emerging in the firmament ( The Economist , February 3 rd , 2024). A year later, the commander of the US Space Force espoused the same position. In a Congressional testimony, General Bradley Chance Saltzman wrote: Because of space's strategic importance, it is highly likely that satellites will be some of the first casualties of any conflict between the US and China . Early in his career, the general continued, space was considered a sanctuary . Satellites were few, extremely expensive, placed in remote orbits, and essentially untouchable by hostile activity. Today, General Saltzman stated, we are not alone in recognising the incredible strategic advantage offered by space, and we cann...

Internationalism No. 71, January 2025 Page 12 In September 2001, Elon Musk discussed the possibility of private individuals launching space ventures with his former university classmate Adeo Ressi. In his biography of Musk, Walter Isaacson writes: “For a private individual it was obviously too expensive to build a rocket. Or was it? What were the necessary material requirements? The only thing really needed, he thought, was metal and fuel, which were not that expensive”. The two concluded that it warranted an attempt. Today, Musk is Tesla’s main shareholder and the owner of X (formerly Twitter). He is considered to be the richest man in the world and strongly supported the election of Donald Trump, whose adviser he will become. This article, however, will only deal with his activity as a space entrepreneur. Fail fast and try again In May 2002, Musk was already a millionaire after selling his Zip2 software company to Compaq when he acquired a small Califor...

Internationalism No. 33, November 2021 Page 9 From the series The war industry and European defence Next Spring SpaceX will be 20 years old. The company founded by Elon Musk has rapidly achieved a key role in international space activity. The first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket has recently been recovered, reconditioned and reused for the tenth time. SpaceX has already repeated this type of reflight 70 times or so; it allows for substantial savings when compared to the losses incurred in the first stages of a traditional rocket launch. It is for this reason that it is being considered as the standard for the future. According to NASA’s calculations, the average cost of launching a satellite into orbit has fluctuated around the level of $18,500 per kilogram for the whole period between 1970 and 2000. SpaceX has reduced this figure by seven times. Internet constellations In recent missions Falcon 9 rockets have put a total of 60 Starlink satellites ...