US Space Force Declares Far Side of the Moon a “Warfighting Domain,” Weighs Launch of Five Military Lunar Satellites

ARFI The far side of the Earth’s Moon could become a new theater of war — at least if the Trump administration has anything to say about it. According to the magazine Air and Space Forces, the US Space Force under Donald Trump is weighing whether to launch five satellites to cislunar space by 2029 — a decision which would see American military craft orbit around the far side of the Moon. That news came via a bulletin to aerospace manufacturers, advising the industry that the Pentagon is now “notionally interested” in launching what would essentially be reconnaissance flights to slingshot around the Moon. As Air and Space reported, the notice stated that “these vehicles may serve as seed vehicles that will inform the acquisition strategy for a potential future proliferated cislunar constellation. The government is looking for information on industry’s ability to provide a rapid, low-risk solution” for a recon trip to the far side of the Moon. To hear Space Force officials like Major General Stephen Purdy tell it, the Pentagon is dead serious about turning the cislunar region into a “warfighting domain.” The impetus behind the military’s newfound interest in the space between the Earth and the Moon seems to be China — specifically, the People’s Republic’s plans to land on the Moon by 2030. “They’re not planning for a one-off demo,” Purdy said in late October, per Air and Space. “They are planning for sustained activity. It’s in their strategic documents… and they’re building the [research and development], and the [science and technology], and the operational reps and set to get all those missions done.” “This isn’t a four- or five-year science project,” Purdy asserted. “This is about getting capability out soon.” More on space: Unannounced Test by Controversial “Sunlight-as-a-Service” Space Startup Shocks Astronomers